Why Small Jurisdictions Are Leading the Way in Zoning Digitization

How clarity empowers communities of every size.

Affordability, growth, and development challenges are not unique to big cities. Across the country, smaller jurisdictions, rural communities, small towns, and mid-sized counties are facing many of the same pressures as their larger counterparts: rising housing demand, aging infrastructure, and the need to support local employers. But they face these challenges with fewer staff, fewer resources, and often a wider geographic area to serve.

What is remarkable is how many of these communities are becoming early adopters of digital zoning tools. Not out of urgency, but out of creativity. Out of a desire to make development more transparent. Out of a commitment to good governance and excellent service.

At UrbanForm, we have seen firsthand how transformative zoning clarity can be for jurisdictions of every size. But the impact in smaller communities is especially meaningful and inspiring.

Here is why.

1. Small Planning Teams Make Big Leaps with the Right Tools

In many small towns, the planning department might be two people or even one. Their daily responsibilities range from long-range planning to answering zoning questions to reviewing permits to staffing public meetings.

The work is meaningful, but the workload is immense.

Digitizing zoning turning code into clear, parcel-specific insight does not replace planners. It amplifies them.

Instead of spending half a day preparing a zoning summary for a resident or developer, staff can share an instantly generated, verifiable report. Instead of fielding dozens of variations of the same question, they can focus on complex applications, public engagement, or long-term planning work.

It is not technology replacing people. It is technology giving people time back.

And in small jurisdictions, time is one of the most valuable resources there is.

2. Transparency Strengthens Community Trust

Smaller jurisdictions often have something big cities sometimes lose: proximity to the people they serve. Residents know their planners by name. Developers know the staff who review their applications. Local government is truly local.

In these settings, transparency is not just a value. It is a relationship.

When zoning is digitized, and anyone can search a parcel to see what is allowed, what restrictions apply, and what the development path looks like, trust grows. Misunderstandings decrease. Meetings become more productive. Conversations become more collaborative.

Digital zoning tools do not just display information. They build shared understanding. And shared understanding is the foundation of strong communities.

3. Clarity Reduces Development Friction Especially Where Every Project Matters

In large metropolitan areas, a single delayed project might get absorbed into the regional pipeline. But in smaller communities, one project can make an outsized difference:

• A new employer coming to town

• A much-needed multifamily development

• A main street revitalization

• A small subdivision that helps grow the tax base

When development stalls because zoning information is unclear, missing, or hard to interpret, the impact is felt immediately. Conversely, when zoning clarity speeds up early feasibility, reduces errors, and leads to higher-quality applications, the whole process moves more smoothly for staff, for applicants, and for the community.

Every clearer path forward is a win.

4. Local Expertise + Digital Tools = A Powerful Combination

Small jurisdictions know their land intimately. They know why a parcel has a unique restriction, how a neighborhood evolved, what land was formerly agricultural, what easements matter most, and where local priorities are shifting.

Digital zoning tools do not replace that expertise. They carry it forward.

UrbanForm's work with counties like Yamhill showed something important: when staff bring their deep local knowledge to the digitization process, the result is not just a zoning map. It is a shared, living representation of local priorities, goals, and on-the-ground reality.

Technology becomes a reflection of the community, not a departure from it.

5. Innovation Is Not About Size. It Is About Mindset.

It is easy to assume that technological innovation belongs to big cities or large organizations. But we have found the opposite: some of the most forward-thinking planning departments are in places with fewer than 50,000 residents.

Why? Because smaller jurisdictions often embrace:

• Pragmatism over bureaucracy

• Collaboration over silos

• Flexibility over rigid process

• Community impact over scale

Digitizing zoning is not about chasing trends. It is about choosing tools that make planning more effective, more accessible, and more equitable for everyone.

Small jurisdictions understand this intuitively.

They are not playing catch-up.They are quietly leading.

The Future of Zoning Clarity Is Local

We believe that every community no matter its size deserves access to clear, accurate, verifiable zoning information. But small jurisdictions remind us why this mission matters. They show how zoning clarity can unlock opportunity, support staff, strengthen local relationships, and make development more collaborative. They show that innovation does not require scale. Just vision.

And we are grateful to be working alongside communities that have both.