The City of Knoxville and the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) will host two public meetings regarding the proposed reorganization of Article 4 and Article 7 of the city's zoning ordinance.

The first meeting is set for 7 p.m., Monday, June 16, in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building and will focus on familiarizing the public with the proposed changes as well as allowing for public comment on the changes.

The second meeting, for further discussion of the issues, is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, July 7, in the Small Assembly Room.

A draft of the suggested revisions will be available on the MPC's website, www.knoxmpc.org, beginning June 6.

The purpose for the proposed changes to Article 4, Specific District Regulations, is to end the practice of simply adding newly adopted zone districts to the end of a growing menu of districts. It would also create groups of districts that are similar in purpose and administration. 
 
"This could be compared to reshuffling a deck of cards into suits of like cards instead of just one card after another," said Mark Donaldson, MPC's Executive Director.

The proposed reorganization of Article 7, Administration and Enforcement, is similar in intent, but includes an effort to consolidate all the administrative procedures, certifications and approvals - now spread throughout the code - into one, easily referenced section.

This effort will not amend any policy or regulations currently found in the Zoning Code.

The intent is to simply reorganize and consolidate existing regulations into a more understandable format. In addition it will bring into the Zoning Code, regulations and procedures that are currently described in the Knoxville South Waterfront Form Based Development Code and make them applicable to any new form districts that are subsequently created.

Both the City of Knoxville and MPC believe that these changes would benefit residents by providing a more user friendly zoning code, clarification of the administration and enforcement elements of the code, an explanation of the appeals process as well as the creation of a place for new form base codes that have been recommended for several urban areas. 
 
"This proposal basically takes the Zoning Code created over the last fifty years, cleans it up, makes it easier to use and provides a better framework for future zoning initiatives," said Bob Whetsel, Director of Redevelopment for the city.