City Launches Reimagine Sun Prairie to Update Zoning Code

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – August 27, 2024
Joshua Clements, AICP
Planning Director
jclements@cityofsunprairie.com
(608) 825-0854
 

City Launches Reimagine Sun Prairie to Update Zoning Code
 

The City is excited to announce Reimagine Sun Prairie, a community-driven initiative to update Sun Prairie’s zoning code and subdivision ordinances, aimed at creating a more prosperous, resilient, an equitable future. The focus of this effort is to prioritize the community’s vision and values in the development and design of public spaces while building on the City’s previous and recent planning efforts. Understanding the significance of zoning in shaping the community is essential as this update launches.

Zoning governs how cities and towns use land by dividing areas into zones for specific activities like homes, businesses, and parks. These standards shape daily lives by influencing everything from the layout of streets and buildings to housing options and transportation choices. Zoning regulations can be complex and hinder positive changes. To better serve the community, the City is working with an expert consultant team to create a new code that is more user-friendly and aligned with what matters most to Sun Prairie community members.

Updating the existing zoning code will be a multi-year project filled with a variety of opportunities for community input. A community survey is now available, offering community members the chance to begin sharing feedback. Printed materials will be distributed at key ‘Home Base’ locations across the city, ensuring that everyone, including individuals without digital access, can contribute. Additionally, there will be community pop-up events at various local gatherings where attendees can engage with interactive activities, share their thoughts, and learn more about the project. Contributions to the surveys and in-person events will help shape the standards and procedures that influence how new development in the city may occur.

“These regulations impact key issues like public health, housing affordability, climate resilience, economic trends, social equity, transportation, and more,” said Josh Clements, Planning

Director. “This project will have a significant impact on Sun Prairie and play a central role in how the city grows and evolves.”

To learn more about the project, take the first survey, and get involved, please visit www.ReimagineSunPrairie.com.

About City of Sun Prairie

Sun Prairie is a vibrant and thriving community located in northeastern Dane county, just east of the City of Madison. The City of Sun Prairie has experienced strong population growth since its incorporation from a village to a city in 1958, undergoing a transformation from a relatively small community of less than 4,000 to an estimated 39,419 today.