Consultation documents on the proposed changes say the council thinks it is important to attract people and businesses to the area without compromising the value of urban areas.
The council's regulatory services committee recently approved consultation material on the areas proposed for rezoning and has begun consulting on the proposed changes.
The work is part of the initial stages of a review of industrial and residential zoning in Balclutha, Milton and Stirling.
Council planning and regulatory manager David Campbell said most of the areas proposed for change in the consultation documents were at present classified as rural zones, with some exceptions.
''Generally [the plan is] looking at rural areas on the fringe to go to either urban-type zoning or, in some cases, industrial.''
There was also the potential to rezone some to transitional zone areas.
The council spoke with landowners earlier in the year about potentially rezoning the land.
''We got general agreement in most areas or people were neutral.''
After the initial discussions with landowners, the council refined its maps and was consulting them again, Mr Campbell said.
The council was also consulting neighbouring and nearby landowners who might be affected by any changes and hoped feedback would be received from landowners and the broader community.
Owning land in rural-type zones was ''more restrictive'' and required more resource consents if further development was desired, Mr Campbell said.
It was also an opportunity to formalise existing zoning to better reflect what the land was used for.
The proposals are subject to change once feedback is received from the community.
More information, including maps, can be found on the council's website.
