Development standards used to implement the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan must be constructed carefully and based on sound land use planning and legal principles. The form and content of these ordinances must address the full range of current and future public issues. Among the issues that should be given priority in the preparation of the Unified Development Ordinance are:

1. How to balance the public necessity for orderly development and environmental controls with private property rights.
2. How to provide flexibility in development choices and designs to foster attractive, creative, and imaginative developments.
3. How to prepare clearer development standards that will improve the predictability of the process for both citizens and property developers.
4. How to create land development regulations that will instill a sense of community and provide incentives for quality development.
5. How to use zoning as a positive tool for economic development.
6. How to provide an appropriate transition in lot size and development patterns between the developed area, developing areas, and the commercial/residential interfaces of the County.
7. How to incorporate development standards that conserve functional open space and protect threatened natural resources.
8. How to provide appropriate development standards for the design of quality public facilities and amenities within proposed developments.