Dublin's four land-use bodies will spend 90 minutes on Sept. 1 discussing how to rewrite the city's mixed-use zoning rules, with the session agenda referencing "the upcoming Code amendment project" as the next phase for developers and property owners.

City Council, the Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC), the Architectural Review Board and the Board of Zoning Appeals will convene a joint work session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 5555 Perimeter Drive. The agenda dedicates the bulk of the evening to a mixed-use development introduction, a consultant primer on mixed-use principles and group discussion on how those principles align with the city's ongoing code audit and the code amendment project.

No votes or legislative action will be taken.

The session is a policy workshop.

Why it matters now

The discussion caps more than a year of groundwork. At the same annual joint session in September 2025, PZC Chair Rebecca Call flagged the gap between Dublin's development vision and its zoning code. "The Commission struggles when developers meet current code but the vision suggests different outcomes, particularly when code hasn't matched vision for over a year," Call said at that Sept. 2, 2025, meeting.

Dublin responded by hiring McBride Dale Clarion to audit the zoning code and subdivision regulations. Planning staff told Council at the Feb. 23, 2026, meeting that mixed-use had emerged as a larger topic than anticipated during the audit kickoff, requiring a separate parallel contract.

The audit draft was presented to Council and the PZC at a joint work session on June 15. The Sept. 1 session is the next step: introducing mixed-use principles to all four boards before the city moves into actual code amendments.

What leaders have said

Vice Mayor Cathy De Rosa has pushed for sharper definitions. At the Feb. 23 Council meeting, she said true mixed-use meant "a mix of uses, not just housing with a coffee shop." Mayor Amorose Groomes suggested percentage-based requirements for residential versus commercial space to reduce discretionary review and give developers more predictability.

What's next

The agenda's reference to "the upcoming Code amendment project" indicates code rewrites will follow the Sept. 1 discussion. The next regular Council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 14. The session is open to the public at Dublin's municipal building, 5555 Perimeter Drive.