The prime tool of planning is land use control, most commonly referred to as zoning. The purposes of zoning are many, but foremost among these are:
(A) To promote and protect the public health, safety, comfort, morals and general welfare of the people;
(B) To divide the city into zones or districts, restricting and regulating therein the location, erection, construction, reconstruction, alteration and use of buildings, structures and land for residence, business and manufacturing and other specified uses;
(C) To protect the character and the stability of the residential, business and manufacturing areas within the city, and to promote the orderly and beneficial development of such areas;
(D) To provide adequate light, air, privacy and convenience of access to property;
(E) To regulate the intensity of use of lot areas, and to determine the area of open spaces surrounding buildings, necessary to provide adequate light and air and to protect the public health;
(F) To establish building lines and the location of buildings designed for residential, business, manufacturing or other uses within such areas;
(G) To fix reasonable standards to which buildings or structures shall conform therein;
(H) To prohibit uses, buildings or structures incompatible with the character of development or intended uses within specified zoning districts;
(I) To prevent additions to, or alteration or remodeling of, existing buildings or structures in such a way as to avoid the restrictions and limitations imposed hereunder;
(J) To limit congestion in the public streets and protect the public health, safety, convenience and general welfare by providing the off-street parking of motor vehicles and the loading and unloading of commercial vehicles;
(K) To protect against fire, explosion, noxious fumes and other hazards in the interest of the public health, safety, comfort and general welfare;
(L) To prevent the overcrowding of land and undue concentration of structures, so far as is possible and appropriate in each district, by regulating the use and bulk of buildings in relation to the land surrounding them;
(M) To conserve the taxable value of land and buildings throughout the city;
(N) To provide for the elimination of non-conforming uses of land, buildings and structures which are adversely affecting the character and value of desirable development in each district; and
(O) To define and limit the powers and duties of the administrative officers and bodies as provided herein.
(Ord. 88-30, passed 8-8-88)