With the cost of housing around Knoxville, Tennessee rising, elected officials and political candidates are looking for new ways to allow residential density.
Knoxville Mayor Mayor Indya Kincannon is expected to proposed zoning changes that would make it easier to build missing middle housing.
Silas Sloan reports that the mayor is focusing on residential density as the cost of housing around the Eastern Tennessee continues to rise.
“Kincannon told Knox News the proposed changes are based on a fall 2022 housing landscape study conducted by Opticos Design, a zoning reform consultancy hired by the city and Knoxville-Knox County Planning to identify solutions to the housing crunch,” writes Sloan.
Opticos Senior Associate Tony Perez is quoted in the article saying that vague and outdated language in Knoxville’s zoning code makes it difficult to develop missing middle housing.
“The proposed changes, created in partnership with East Tennessee Realtors, should be presented to the Knoxville City Council and Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission this fall, Kincannon said, with a goal of finalizing the changes by January 2024,” reports Sloan.
Sloan also adds that R. Bentley Marlow, a developer who is running for the city's council's at-large seat B, has proposed another set of zoning changes that would allow missing middle housing a permitted development, or by-right development, in residential neighborhoods, rather than a special use.
Zoning reforms have been developing in Tennessee for a few years now as the state deals with swift growth and surging housing costs. Nashville reformed its parking requirements, setting parking maximums, in November 2022, for an example of a city achieving legislative reform prior to Knoxville’s explorations of missing middle housing.
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