ROCKY MOUNT -- Franklin County officials started into work to revamp zoning ordinances Tuesday.

Zoning can be a complicated governmental issue -- but that's an understatement in Franklin County, part of which is zoned and part of which is not.

Tuesday, the board of supervisors and the planning commission met with representatives of Clarion Associates -- a national land-use and real estate consulting firm -- to share ideas and get an idea of how to proceed. If all goes as planned, the final revision should be finished by 2011.

The county is working with a blank slate, said Neil Holthouser, director of planning. The finished product could include minor tweaks to existing ordinances or many changes including new zoning for areas that never had it before.

What will be done is still up in the air, but Blackwater District Supervisor Wayne Angell said the intent is not to implement countywide zoning. Currently, half of the county is not zoned. Angell, whose rural district includes both zoned and unzoned areas, was on the board when the current zoning ordinance was implemented in 1988 and said it needs an update.

Angell was also on the board when an effort to zone the entire county surfaced in 1992 and residents living without zoning pushed back, arguing they didn't want or need it.

To better handle anticipated controversy, the consultants plan for public outreach to play a large role in the process, said Greg Dale, one of the consultants.

Part of Tuesday's meeting was to get an idea of hot button issues and how to approach the public for its input.

"Sometimes just the word alone causes controversy," Angell said.

The term "zoning" causes concern for many farmers who don't want to be told what to do with their land should they decide to stop farming, said Snow Creek District Supervisor Leland Mitchell. A beef cattle farmer himself, Mitchell said that concern is even more prevalent now that the economy is bad.

Dale acknowledged that some people's perspective of zoning is that it infringes on their property rights.

Consultants have been touring the county to prepare an assessment of current ordinances. The company will also assist county staff in conducting a demand versus capacity analysis. After those two tasks are finished, the public outreach program will begin, possibly in the spring, said consultant Roger Waldon.

Community meetings will be held in each of the seven magisterial districts and residents can see the results of the studies and offer their feedback.

From there, the consultants will make recommendations to the county and the planning department staff will draft the new ordinances.