Moore has gained recognition and praise for his open and inclusive approach to zoning and land use decisions in the ward. Immediately upon assuming office in 1991, Moore formed the 49th Ward Zoning and Land Use Advisory Committee, a committee of neighborhood residents, business owners and representatives from the major community organizations who advise him on all zoning and land use decisions he is asked to make. He also holds community meetings on all significant zoning and land use issues and almost always follows the advice and recommendations of his committee and the community.

When rampant development threatened to overtake the ward, Moore launched a two-year community planning process, the first of its kind in the city, to comprehensively examine the 49th Ward’s zoning map Moore enlisted scores of community volunteers to survey each block in the 49th Ward and look at the neighborhood’s strengths and challenges. Moore then worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council and the 49th Ward Zoning and Land Use Committee to fashion a series of recommendations for changes to the area’s zoning that would help to preserve the character of the 49th Ward’s residential streets and encourage development on the commercial corridors. Those recommendations were reviewed, modified and ultimately approved by community residents at meetings held throughout the ward, and are now in effect.

Today, Moore gives direct decision-making power to ward residents to decide how to spend those infrastructure dollars through a process known as “Participatory Budgeting.”  The 49th Ward is the first community in the United States to give its residents the power of the vote on capital budget spending, and has earned Moore and the 49th Ward national recognition for this pioneering democratic approach.