Rye residents will get their first chance to weigh in on the city's comprehensive plan overhaul at a public workshop Oct. 14. The session begins at 7 p.m. at the Rye Free Reading Room.

The workshop marks the first public input session in a planning process that will reshape Rye's zoning code for the first time since 1985. The current plan is the second-oldest in Westchester County.

Councilmember Jamie Jensen, who sits on the Rye City Planning Commission, said on a MyRye.com podcast published Sept. 24 that zoning changes are coming. "There's gonna be some zoning code change. I don't know what it will be, but it will clearly be happening," Jensen said.

The City Council hired White Plains-based consulting firm AKRF Planning to lead the update at its March 4 meeting. The council had set aside $250,000 for the project. AKRF's updated cost came in at $285,000, with the extra $35,000 covering work by the Land Use Law Center at Pace University, as the Rye Record reported.

AKRF has completed comprehensive plans for more than 25 New York municipalities, including Mamaroneck, New Rochelle and Yonkers.

The process is expected to take 18 months. It runs through five phases: kickoff and background research, visioning, initial recommendations, drafting a plan and plan adoption. The City Council will vote to adopt the final plan after public hearings.

A 15-member steering committee, created by a unanimous council vote on June 10, is guiding the effort. The committee includes two high school students, Ava Perota and Paul LaForge, alongside residents such as Laura Brett, Christopher Cummins and Jorge Otero-Pailos.

The committee's Aug. 27 meeting focused on housing and demographics, examining the age and size of Rye's housing stock, vacancy rates, rentals and affordability compared to the rest of Westchester County, according to the Rye Record.

The review is also incorporating new FEMA flood maps, environmental studies and a downtown design review, Jensen said on the podcast.

Meanwhile, the council adopted a six-month moratorium on June 10, halting review of development applications in the Central Business District, adjoining B-1 and B-2 zones and multi-family buildings of six or more units. The vote was 5-2. Jensen and Councilmember Anderson voted no.

Jensen said on the podcast she opposed the moratorium because she preferred changing the code directly rather than "stopping everything cold until we figure out what we don't know."

The city is also training neighborhood ambassadors to expand outreach, with training planned for late September.

Registration for the Octr. 14 workshop is not required but is encouraged so planners can estimate attendance. The next regular City Council meeting is Oct. 7.

Residents can find workshop details at cityofryecomprehensiveplan.com.