This Ordinance shall be known as the "New Hope Zoning Ordinance" and the Map herein referred to identified by the title "Zoning Map of New Hope". The Zoning Map of New Hope and all explanatory matter thereon is hereby adopted and made a part of this Ordinance. Such Map shall be filed in the office of the City Clerk and shall show thereon the date of adoption of this Ordinance.

This Ordinance, and all subsequent amendments, establishing comprehensive Zoning Regulations for the City of New Hope, Alabama, Alabama (hereinafter, the "City" or "New Hope"), and providing for the administration, enforcement, and amendment thereof, is adopted pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Title 11, Chapter 52, Article IV, Sections 11-52-70 to 11-52-84, inclusive of the Code of Alabama, (recompiled 1975) and providing for the repeal of all ordinances in conflict herewith.

This Ordinance is designed to lessen congestion in the streets, to secure safety from fire, panic and other dangers, to promote health and the general welfare, to provide adequate light and air, to prevent the overcrowding of land, to avoid undue concentration of population, and to facilitate the adequate provision of transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public requirements.

These regulations are made with reasonable consideration, among other things, to the character of each Zoning District and its peculiar suitability for particular uses and with a view to conserving the value of buildings and encouraging the most appropriate use of land throughout the City of New Hope.

This Ordinance is further intended to protect and accommodate competing interests in the use, enjoyment and development of land within the City. Every possible consideration has been given to the public interest, individual property rights and the impacts, or externalities, associated with the development of land in New Hope. It is the goal of this Ordinance that both the burdens and the benefits it implies be rationally and fairly distributed among New Hope citizens and property owners.

Changes in zoning (rezoning) may appear to reduce the certainty of protection to owners of neighboring property and to increase the potential for adverse impacts to the City. This Ordinance contains standards and procedures intended to insure that neighbors, the citizenry-at-large, and the City are protected from adverse impacts, and that the community's general welfare is protected and enhanced. Distinctions between Zoning Districts are significant and are sized and located to meet the needs in New Hope for preservation of stable, existing development; for improvement of declining and transitional areas; and to encourage and promote growth and long-term economic stability. This Ordinance contains clear, detailed procedures for the justified change of Zoning District designations, as time passes.

It is the purpose of this Zoning Ordinance:

A.

To protect, promote and provide for the public health, safety, and general welfare of the present and future inhabitants of the City.

B.

To guide the future growth and development of the City.

C.

To preserve and maintain a healthful environment by providing standards and procedures to control the density of development, to control the intensity of development in areas of sensitive natural resources, and to reduce or eliminate adverse environmental impacts.

D.

To regulate the location and use of buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residences and other uses, and to establish standards so that all the people of the City of New Hope may have access to decent, sound, sanitary and safe housing.

E.

To provide the most beneficial relationship between the uses of land, buildings and the circulation of traffic, having particular regard to lessening the danger of congestion of traffic on the streets, roads and highways of the City.

F.

To provide for adequate light, air, and privacy, to secure safety from fire, panic, flood, and other dangers and to prevent overcrowding of the land and undue congestion of population.

G.

To protect the tax base by facilitating cost effective development within the City.

H.

To secure economy in local government expenditures.

I.

To protect landowners from adverse impacts of adjoining developments.

J.

To divide the incorporated areas of the City of New Hope into Zoning Districts according to the use of land and buildings, the density of development, the intensity of such use and development (including height and bulk), and the provision of adequate open space.

K.

To protect the character and the social and economic stability of all parts of the City of New Hope and to encourage the orderly and beneficial development of all parts of the City.

L.

To protect and conserve the value of land throughout the City and the value of buildings and improvements upon the land and to minimize conflicts among the uses of land and buildings.

M.

To guide public and private policy and action in order to provide adequate and efficient transportation, water, sewerage, schools, parks, and other public facilities and services.

N.

To prevent the pollution of air, land, streams, and ponds; to assure the adequacy of drainage facilities; to safeguard the water table; and to encourage the wise use and management of natural resources throughout the City in order to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the community and the value of the land.

O.

To preserve the natural beauty and topography of the City and to insure appropriate development with regard to these natural features.

The Zoning Regulations set forth in this Ordinance affect all land, every building, and every use of land and/or building and shall apply as follows:

A.

Use. No building or land shall hereafter be used or occupied, and no building, structure or part thereof shall be erected, moved or structurally altered except in conformity with the regulations of this Ordinance for the Zoning District in which it is located.

B.

Structures. No structure shall be erected, constructed or altered so as to exceed the height limit or dimensional standards specified in the regulations herein for the Zoning District in which it is located.

C.

Lots. No lot shall be reduced in size below the minimum requirement for lot width or depth, front, side, or rear yard, inner or outer courts, lot area per family or other requirements of this Ordinance. This Section shall not apply when a portion of a lot is acquired for public use.