About ZoneCo
Founded in 2020 by city planner, lawyer, and former Chief Counsel of Land Use and Planning for the City of Cincinnati, Sean S. Suder, ZoneCo has become a preeminent zoning code writing firm in America.
ZoneCo is a national leader in zoning and land-use reform, combining legal expertise, planning strategy, and design clarity to create zoning codes that are clear, consistent, user-friendly, equitable, and defensible. The firm helps communities of all sizes modernize outdated regulations, streamline development review, and align local rules with community vision. Through collaboration, data-driven analysis, and accessible design, ZoneCo transforms complex ordinances into tools that promote housing choice, economic vitality, and sustainable, inclusive growth.
ZoneCo was founded on the following zoning principles:
Zoning should regulate only what needs to be regulated to advance the vision and promote public health, safety, and welfare.
Zoning should respect both existing and desired development patterns.
Zoning should be the implementation of a plan, not a barrier to achieving desired outcomes.
What does it mean to be human engineered?
AI assists. Human judgment governs.
Many are talking about the impacts of AI on zoning codes. We believe the impact has been positive and we have embraced AI as a tool to make our code systems better. AI can increase speed and efficiency and can even be a helpful thought partner. However, AI cannot replace the judgment of our ZoneCo human professionals, who collectively have over a century of human experience in this field. As we build out ZoneCo’s AI structure, we will use this tool for:
Improving structural consistency;
Accelerating diagnostics;
Reducing drafting errors;
Enhancing political intelligence;
Systematizing modernization projects; and
Preserving institutional knowledge.