Today Knox County announced that “it is pausing work on the proposed Unified Development Ordinance to allow Mayor-Elect Betsy Henderson and incoming County Commissioners time to become fully familiar with the process and potential outcomes before moving forward. The second draft of the proposed zoning map has generated significant interest and feedback from residents and property owners throughout Knox County. ”

We understand It takes time and effort to come up to speed about land use (we’re learning more every day!).KCPA looks forward to engaging with the incoming executive administration as well as the new county commissioners.

The Knox Community Planning Alliance supports the Advance Knox program initiative. We’ve heard some calls to scrap the UDO and Advance Knox, but that is not a good option. Cancelling the UDO means the current rules stay on the books. Rules that have allowed expensive sprawl, loss of farmland, and resulted in congested roads. We need to improve our planning and regulations.

Advance Knox hasn’t been perfect. But it has collected input from thousands of residents. Community members and staff and consultants have put in thousands of hours and put forth some good ideas. We look forward to Advance Knox resuming after a brief pause and working with the incoming administration to help create a set of development regulations for the county. Our policy statement from 2025 contains important items we hope to see in the UDO.

Please continue to submit comments at https://www.advanceknox.org/udo