North County Sector Plan Update Gets Underway
MPC staff has begun to update the North County Sector Plan and has scheduled two community meetings to kick-off the planning process. Rather than making formal presentations, MPC will use an open house-style format to gather input from the public?residents should come by the meetings when they can and stay as long as they wish. Display boards will be set up to show information on the area's growth trends, and people can talk with staff one-on-one about the issues related to the future of their sector.
Meeting dates:
Sector plans include maps of proposed land uses, community facilities and transportation systems, and are used in making recommendations for zoning cases and capital improvements. This plan will update the current sector plan that was created in 1998.
The North County Sector has seen a 23 percent increase in population (approximately 10,000 people) from 2000 to 2009, along with the creation of 3,700 new residential building lots. From 1998 to 2008, over 350 acres of new office and commercial development occurred. (A more detailed look at existing conditions and trends can be viewed at www.knoxmpc.org/northcounty.) Possible issues of concern in the sector are the redevelopment of underused or vacant shopping centers and the creation of new parks and greenways, because park acquisition has not kept pace with population growth.
The process to update the North County Sector Plan will take several months. Residents are encouraged to attend one of the two opening sessions this month, however, if some are unable to do so, there will still be considerable opportunity for participation throughout the planning process. Several additional rounds of public meetings to discuss citizens' ideas and concerns will occur in coming months.
From these input-gathering meetings, MPC will draft the concepts for future land use and new community facilities for the sector. Near the end of the process, a draft of the plan will be presented to the public for final review, and, once all concerns are addressed, the plan will go to the governing bodies for adoption.
For more information on the North County Sector plan and the long-range planning process in general, contact MPC's Mike Reynolds at 865-215-2500 or mike.reynolds@knoxmpc.org.
Posted 09-21-2011, written by Mike Reynolds