A sign goes up on the empty lot down the street, and suddenly the question matters: who decides what gets built there? In Macon-Bibb it isn't the mayor and it isn't your county commissioner — it's a separate five-member board most residents have never heard of. And the law guarantees you a chance to speak before it votes.
The short answer
The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission ("P&Z") decides what land can be used for. When someone wants to change what a property is allowed to be — that's called a rezoning — P&Z holds a public hearing and votes to approve it, approve it with conditions, or deny it. Anyone can show up and speak.
Two words, plainly
Zoning is the county's rulebook for land: which areas are for homes, which for stores, which for industry. Every parcel in the county has a zoning classification that limits what can be built on it.
A rezoning is a request to change that rule for a specific property — say, from residential to commercial so a shop can go in. That's the moment neighbors get a legal say.
Who runs it
P&Z is a five-member commission serving the consolidated city-county government, with its own professional staff. It's a separate body from the Board of Commissioners — your elected county commissioners don't vote on rezonings.
What P&Z handles:
- Rezonings
- approve, approve with conditions, or deny.
- The zoning rulebook and official zoning maps
- it can adopt and amend both (the rulebook is formally called the Comprehensive Land Development Resolution).
- The long-range comprehensive plan
- P&Z maintains the county's growth plan, though changes to it are subject to approval by the Macon-Bibb County Commission.
- Certificates of Zoning Compliance
- the sign-off you need before the county will issue a building permit or a business license.
What it does not handle: the building permit itself. That comes from the separate Building and Fire Safety Department ((478) 803-0466) once your zoning checks out — construction over $2,500 needs one.
How you find out something's coming
Before P&Z can vote on a rezoning someone else requested, the law requires public notice, two ways:
- A notice in the newspaper, published between 15 and 45 days before the hearing.
- A sign posted on the property itself, at least 15 days before the hearing, reading "REZONING" with contact information.
So that sign on the lot down the street isn't decoration — it's your legal notice, and it means the decision hasn't been made yet. P&Z also posts every upcoming hearing agenda, with case lists and addresses, on mbpz.org under "Hearings," along with results and meeting recordings.
How to weigh in
P&Z holds its public hearings on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 1:30 p.m. To speak, register with the Commission — in person at the hearing, or through the online sign-in option described in its hearing rules. A few ground rules worth knowing before you go:
- Everyone who testifies takes an oath to tell the truth first.
- Each side — for and against — gets equal time, capped at 15 minutes per side unless the Commission extends it, so large groups are often asked to pick a spokesperson.
If you can't attend, the office takes questions at (478) 241-2554 or info@mbpz.org (3661 Eisenhower Parkway, Suite MB104). Rezoning applications themselves go through the commission's online portal, Clariti.
Why it's worth your time
Zoning decides what your street becomes — and unlike most of government, it comes with a built-in moment where showing up matters. A rezoning hearing is one of the few places where a resident's few minutes at a microphone are part of the legal process itself.
Where to go next
- What does the Macon-Bibb Board of Commissioners do? — the elected board, and how it differs from P&Z.
- How to speak at a commission meeting — the other public microphone in county government.
- That abandoned house next door — for property-condition problems, which belong to Code Enforcement, not P&Z.
- Ask Mulberry — ask what a zoning classification means or how a hearing works.
Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission (mbpz.org) — the commission's role in planning the county's physical development, administering the zoning code and comprehensive plan; office at 3661 Eisenhower Parkway, Suite MB104, phone (478) 241-2554; the Clariti application portal; the Hearings feed of agendas, results, and recordings.
MBPZ — Chapter 27, Zoning Administration (mbpz.org) — "The Commission shall be composed of five (5) members selected pursuant to the ordinances of Macon-Bibb County"; power to adopt, amend, supplement, and change the Resolution and official zoning maps; approval or denial of rezonings with conditions; the comprehensive plan subject to approval by the Macon-Bibb County Commission; newspaper notice not less than 15 nor more than 45 days before the hearing; the on-property "REZONING" sign posted at least 15 days before.
MBPZ — Rules (mbpz.org) — hearings on the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 1:30 p.m.; speaker registration online or at the hearing; the oath; equal time capped at 15 minutes per side. (The rules page cites an online sign-in URL that returned a 404 when last checked, so this article links the rules page instead.)
MBPZ — Permit Process (mbpz.org) — a valid Certificate of Zoning Compliance is required for both a Building Permit and a Business License; building permits come from the Macon-Bibb County Building and Fire Safety Department, (478) 803-0466; construction over $2,500 requires a permit.
Last reviewed August 2026. Hearing logistics and office details can change; mbpz.org is the authoritative source.