Kendig Keast Collaborative (formerly Lane Kendig, inc.) completed the City of Aberdeen's Comprehensive Plan. During the plan development process, there were several ordinance provisions identified that were of high priority and in need of near-term attention. Under the current regulations, there was concern on behalf of the City that, in the interim, development would be significantly below their expectations, leaving the City to live with the less desirable results for the years to come.

As a means of immediate implementation of the plan, an interim ordinance was prepared by Kendig Keast Collaborative (KKC) and adopted by the City Council during the course of drafting the plan. The interim ordinance achieved improved control through creation of overlay districts that replaced the existing zoning districts. It established new residential and nonresidential standards and created two new residential land use categories. Landscaping, buffering, and lighting standards were provided. In addition, “major developments” were required to obtain a special use permit, which provided added control by establishing additional review standards and the ability to impose conditions to bring developments into conformance with the new plan.

Subsequent to the adopted comprehensive plan and interim ordinance, KKC was authorized to continue their work in drafting a new Unified Development Code. The new code greatly simplified the existing development ordinances, consolidating 31 sections into 18 code divisions. There are now new provisions for limited uses (permitted administratively upon site plan review), added density and bulk standards (open space ratio, landscape surface ratio, and floor area ratio), building scale and design standards, a housing palette for planned residential development, environmental standards (resource protection, floodplains, and general standards), housing bonuses, and new subdivision and land development regulations. The procedures and decision-making provisions were also rewritten and streamlined.