13 - PUBLIC HEARING REGARDING UPDATE OF COMPONENTS OF THE ZONING ORDINANCE

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MODIFICATIONS TO ZONING ORDINANCE INTRODUCTION The City of Paris adopted a temporary zoning ordinance in 1942, and ordinances amending the zoning ordinance were passed by the city council in 1945, 1957, and 1965. Additional amendments were added to Zoning Ordinance (No. 1710, April 12, 1965) as follows: • Land Use Schedule Charts (Sec. 8- 101 -8 -108) during 1972 through 2012; • Definitions for Use Regulations (Sec. 8 -200) during 1971 through 2012; • Planned Development District Uses (Sec. 300) during 1972 through 1987. After World War II, with the growth of the U.S. national highway system, and the substantial expansion of American suburbs, and particularly since the mid- 1960s, American zoning ordinances have more fully addressed the functioning of land uses, city aesthetics, differing land use compatibilities, and increased coordination with representatives of the development community. Although a zoning ordinance is an independent, "stand alone" document, its fundamental purpose is to implement a municipality's comprehensive plan; this perspective is stated in Section 2. Purpose of the Paris Zoning Ordinance, and the relationship of this Zoning Ordinance to the Paris Comprehensive Plan is also referenced in another part of the city's zoning ordinance. PURPOSES It can be observed from the current Paris Zoning Ordinance that much of this document is outdated, and therefore does not, in certain instances, reflect current and appropriate American zoning practice. On the other hand, certain sections of the ordinance are substantially appropriate and in large measure have been modernized: e.g., Sec. 8 -500: Home Occupations; Sec. 10: Off - Street Parking and Loading Regulations; and Sect. 15: Nonconforming Uses and Structures. Hence, the city staff is recommending that we remedy certain zoning requirements that are: (a) outdated, (b) present difficulties to the city staff and /or the development community, (c) are difficult to understand or are vague or inconsistent with other parts of the zoning ordinance and /or (d) reflect other problems as determined by the Planning and Zoning Commission, City Council, and the city staff. Therefore the following comments represent, at this point, city staff recommendations regarding modifications to the current Paris Zoning Ordinance; text in parentheses provides brief comments regarding why the staff is recommending said changes as indicated by "Comment ". Text in italics represent text that the staff is recommending to be included in this update; the Planning and Zoning Commission has already stated that it supports these updates. Further, this staff effort is not intended to be a complete, comprehensive update of the ordinance, but rather to address those problems that are immediate and apparent. 1