"Metro [Nashville] Council moved a step closer to overhauling Nashville’s downtown zoning system Tuesday night," Daniel Potter reports for Nashville Public Radio.
"The bill’s sponsor says the current system complicates efforts toward mixed-use development, and is bad for the environment. And he says the proposed Downtown Code will preserve the distinct flavors of different neighborhoods.
"Councilman Mike Jameson calls the current system 'outdated,' because it divides areas up by function.
"'That makes no sense anymore – to have residential way over here in one part of the city, and industrial way over here in another part of the city, particularly when to get from one to the other you’ve got to burn up fossil fuels.'
"Jameson wants to encourage the blending of business and residential areas. So the new code allows apartments to build on top of retailers, while barring skyscrapers from popping up next to cottages.
"'The Downtown Code eliminates this obsession with uses, which no longer works, and instead relies on a form-based approach. We are more concerned about the way the city looks than the way you use your building.'"
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(Photo by Todd Stringer, Nashville Business Journal)
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