Like many small towns across the country, Miller's Ferry is on the brink of collapse. Mayor Grey is no longer content to let the town run its current course, so he devises a plan to create a local industry of haunted tourism with the hopes of developing a landmark village, open to investment and new families. With the help of his friend Mike Pennington, a retired university professor of philosophy, they build a ghost hunting business to certify local houses for the recently created Alternative Zoning permits required of homeowners participating in the new industry. Like a self-fulfilling prophesy, the scheme evolves into a bizarre reality when the largely unnoticed community of spirits gives unexpected life to the new tourism. Set in the present, Alternative Zoning is a humorous story of life in any small town and the extraordinary lengths a community will take to ensure their survival, even at the expense of their own traditions.