Planners and designers are inviting residents of the Bluffton area to discuss how they want their neighborhoods to look in the future.

Residents of Pritchardville, May River Road, All Joy, Brighton Beach and Myrtle Park can be involved in creating a new zoning code being crafted by Beaufort County.

Design workshops will be held this week at the Bluffton library, where residents can speak to consultants and architects.

The process is designed to create a form-based code, which aims to reduce urban sprawl and create walkable communities with a mix of commercial, residential and civic space.

Residents of county community preservation districts, where current zoning preserves a rural character, should make it a point to attend, according to county planning director Tony Criscitiello.

County planners and representatives of Opticos Design of Berkeley, Calif., will host an opening presentation at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the community center at Oscar J. Frazier Park.

Daylong workshops, where consultants and architects will do design work in a studio open to the public, will be from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Bluffton library. The workshops will be followed by open houses from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, a draft will be presented at a closing presentation from 11:30 am. to 1 p.m. at the library.

Follow reporter Allison Stice at twitter.com/BlufftonBlogIP.

Related content:

Residents to get chance to speak on community appearance, Oct. 17, 2011

New zoning idea rejects car-based communities, Nov. 27, 2010

Public buy-in is a key component to new zoning philosophy, Nov. 27, 2010