Planning Commission.

  • Use the City of Hamilton Zoning Ordinance to find detailed information about zoning districts, permitted land uses, land and setbacks, exterior building design requirements.

    [Zoning Ordinance PDF]

  • Planning Commission meetings are regularly held on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month.

    The first meeting of the month is a day meeting which begins at 1:30 pm. The second meeting of the month is an evening meeting which begins at 6:00 pm.

    Special meeting times and dates will be scheduled as necessary.

    All meetings are held in the Hamilton City Council Chambers located at 345 High Street in Hamilton Ohio 45011.

    {Planning Commission Calendar}

  • The Planning Commission is responsible for reviewing rezoning, planned unit developments, preliminary and final subdivision plats, street and alley vacations, street name changes, and then forwarding recommendations to the City Council for final action.

Conditional Use.

A "Conditional Use" refers to a type of business or activity that is not permitted by right in a specific zone district, unless it is proven to be safe and suitable for the surrounding neighborhood. If your proposed use falls under the “Conditional Use” category, you cannot begin operating or make any changes to the site until approval is obtained.

To find out which businesses and activities need this special permission, you can check the Zoning Use Chart in Section 1250 of the Hamilton Zoning Ordinance. These businesses are marked with a "C."

Getting approval for a Conditional Use is not guaranteed. To get a Conditional Use Certificate, the applicant must first go through a public hearing with the Planning Commission and then get final approval from the City Council. All applications are reviewed to make sure they meet certain standards as listed in Section 1300.4(C) of the Hamilton Zoning Ordinance.

Upcoming Meetings

Agenda & Minutes

Previous Agendas are located on the Agenda & Minutes page.

A variance can be reviewed and approved with a conditional use should they meet the criteria for approval of variances per the HZO. Approval of a variance is not guaranteed. All applications are reviewed for compliance the criteria located on page 10 of this document.

A variance is a request for an exception to the zoning regulations. A variance can be granted when following the specified conditional use criteria would create a problem or difficulty for a property owner. The person asking for the variance needs to prove why it is necessary.

An applicant may request a variance at the same time as a Conditional Use, as long as the variance requested is directly related to the Conditional Use . If both a variance and a Conditional Use are needed, they can be reviewed and approved together if they meet the criteria in the zoning rules in Section 1300.4( D) of the Hamilton Zoning Ordinance.

Quick Links

Applications for a Planned Development (PD) . Create a new PD or amend an existing PD.

Application for a Specific Use. These are uses within “PD” zoned districts that require Planning Commission approval.