Welcome to the City of Rochester-Olmsted County Planning and Zoning Department

Our History

The Rochester-Olmsted Planning Department was formed in 1975 through the merger of the Olmsted County Department of Development and the Rochester Planning Department. The combined department provides planning and related services under the administrative direction of the Planning Administrative Services Committee (PASC), which has charge of setting the department's budget and work program within the constraints established by the County's levy for the department. The PASC is made up of representatives from the City of Rochester, Olmsted County, the smaller cities in Olmsted County, and the townships.

By forming a joint planning agency, the community created a geographically integrated planning system with a comprehensive approach to all phases of the planning and community development process. Planning can be carried out on a community-wide basis without regard to jurisdictional boundaries. Particularly in planning for the overall settlement pattern of the County, the cities, townships, and County have the potential to work with one planning system to create the growth management system necessary for orderly development.