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Article 13 Parking and Loading - Knox County UDO Community Review Survey
As part of the Knox County Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) update, we are seeking feedback on development design standards pertaining to parking, signage, landscaping, open space, and resource protection. Your input will help us refine these regulations to better serve Knox County's needs. Please review the key concepts below and share your thoughts. Each article has its own survey component, allowing you to focus on content that is of most interest to you – take one survey or all as time and interest allows. The survey portal will be open for two weeks, beginning July 29th.
You can view the full
Article 13 Parking and Loading here!
1.
Flexibility in Parking Minimums and Maximums
The draft article introduces both minimum and maximum parking requirements for various uses. The goal is to ensure adequate parking while preventing vast, underutilized parking lots.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
2.
Shared Parking Allowances
The draft introduces new "Shared Parking" provisions (Section 13.05) allowing different businesses or uses with varying peak hours (e.g., an office building and a restaurant) to share the same parking lot and count those spaces toward each use's requirement.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
3.
Parking Incentives and Reduction Alternatives
The draft introduces a suite of new incentives in certain zones that allows developers to reduce the number of required parking spaces in exchange for community benefits. These include installing additional landscaping or stormwater features within parking lots, closing excess driveway curb cuts, locating all parking behind a building, providing additional electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, and providing a dedicated passenger pick-up/drop-off zone.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
4.
Off-Street Loading Area Requirements
Section 13.08 introduces new standards for off-street loading areas (the spaces where commercial trucks and delivery vehicles load and unload goods). Any use that regularly receives or ships materials by truck must provide dedicated loading spaces. No development is required to provide more than five loading spaces. Additionally, all multi-family dwellings, regardless of size, must show on their site plan how moving trucks will access and exit the site.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
5.
Bicycle Parking Requirements
Sections 13.04 and 13.07 introduce new requirements and design standards for off-street bicycle parking in certain zoning districts, including requirements that bicycle racks be located within 150 feet of a building entrance, be securely anchored, and not obstruct pedestrian walkways.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
6.
Location and Access Standards
The draft specifies that for residential uses of four units or less, parking is prohibited in the required front yard area except on a paved driveway. It also requires that parking lots be designed so vehicles do not need to back into a public street to exit, with limited exceptions for single-unit attached dwellings, townhouses, and duplexes on local roads.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
7.
Cross-Access Between Adjacent Sites
The draft includes a new provision requiring adjacent nonresidential or mixed-use developments to provide cross-access connections between their parking areas where feasible. This allows customers to drive between neighboring businesses without re-entering the public street, reducing traffic conflicts, and improving circulation.
What feedback do you have on this proposed approach? Please tell us what you support, what concerns you have, and any changes you would recommend.
8.
Are there any additional comments you would like to share regarding Article 13?
Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey!
