I work in civil engineering, townhomes are HOT right now, although I absolutely despise them.
Generally getting zoning change requires a city commission meeting, would have to be passed by the commission and could be opposed by the public, if that’s the case then it may not pass at all.
In order to get plans, I highly suggest you hire an architect, if you want some plans to go off of, find a building you like, and request the plans from the municipality, it’s public record and has to be shared. Generally through the engineering division.
it sounds like you’re pretty new to this. It’s not as easy as you may think and there are ALOT of factors you have to take account of. Being the money man is one thing, but there’s a lot of things that can go wrong. I assume you’re banking that by the time these are built, this pandemic crisis will be over and people will be able to pay their rent again...
oh and like others said above, hire the most reputable land surveyors and engineers around, also find out Which developers have the best relationships with the city, and hire the most reputable ones as well