Client Success: Birmingham, MI

Birmingham, Michigan, a growing community only 30 minutes outside of Detroit, updated its zoning laws with a commitment to maintain its small-town look and feel. The city’s final objective for a major rewrite project was to develop an accessible portal that would allow users to easily access the Zoning Ordinance. enCodePlus took on the task and worked with the City to codify and publish their newly written regulations. The updated Zoning Ordinance is now hosted online, always current, and loaded with helpful features. Features like popup definitions, hyperlinked cross-references, and easily accessed print or export options completely changed the way citizens and staff were able to access and use this vital document. Boasting additional tools such as quick tables to access import data and regulations by district to view district standards, the integrated portal went live to the public in 2019.

Implementing GIS mapping was also a goal of the ZO update project. The city wanted the public to be able to access GIS zoning information quickly and efficiently. Users can access the GIS portal from the Zoning Ordinance and look up regulations and permitted land uses in zones. With the help of legends and base maps, users can even drill down on specific criteria such as points of interest, parks and recreation, historic areas, and more.