Located along the Cuyahoga River in Northeast Ohio, on the western edge of Portage County, the City of Kent is home to nearly 30,000 residents. The City is also home to Kent State University, one of the largest universities in Ohio with over 28,900 students at the main campus. Although Kent is a vibrant college town, land use challenges are intensified with a seasonal influx of population and a demand for diverse housing needs.

Since Kent’s Zoning Ordinance was last adopted in 1977, the City aimed to update their Code with the most up-to-date land use regulations to best position the community for future successes. The City aspired to not only add modern land use regulations, to reflect current trends and it’s unique character, a focus of the Ordinance was to reduce redundancies, increase the graphic quality for readability, improve clarity, and create a user-friendly ordinance that staff, residents and developers can easily navigate.

Key standards that were incorporated into the new Zoning Ordinance include:

  • Improved parking regulations to allow greater flexibility for mixed-uses, to reduce impervious surfaces, and to improve access management.
  • Updated sign regulations to reflect the Reed vs. Town of Gilbert findings.
    Enhanced landscape regulations to ensure adequate buffering between uses, especially residential neighborhoods.
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