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Board discusses annual zoning text amendments, flags, signage and possible regulation of vape/smoke shops
Summary
Planning staff presented the city’s annual zoning text amendments — including updates on signage, temporary flags, wrecker-service uses and preferred street lighting — and asked whether the board wants further study to regulate vape and CBD retailers.
City planning staff presented the annual zoning ordinance update and a slate of text changes and rezonings at the Board of Mayor and Aldermen work session. The package would add new signage options (halo illumination, canopy signs, irregular hanging sign shapes), allow limited temporary flags on residential lots and add wrecker service as a permitted use in the Light Industrial (LI) district. Staff also proposed adding performance bonds as a surety option and listing preferred streetlight fixtures approved by Middle Tennessee Electric to reduce light pollution.
Planning staff described a technical sync with recent state law changes, including Tennessee Code Annotated adjustments that permit staff to make initial zoning boundary interpretations (with BZA review if contested) and changes to vesting rules that align local procedure with TCA language. The package includes three property rezoning requests tied to city-owned or city-acquired parcels adjacent to Harlinsdale Park and the Franklin Road historic district; staff said historic preservation overlay (HPO) and civic/institutional (CI) zoning were recommended to align future park use and design review.
An additional topic arose during the zoning discussion: whether to regulate smoke and vape retail. Staff said several Tennessee municipalities are placing new land-use limits on vape/smoke shops (distance separations from schools or limiting them to industrial districts) and asked whether the board wanted staff to bring language back as part of the annual update. Board members expressed interest in further study; one alderman asked for immediate, modest measures aligned with existing location restrictions for other regulated retail and suggested considering the historic overlay as a no‑go zone for new vape shops. Vice Mayor Potts and others flagged neon signage and interior lighting used by vape shops as a related concern.
Staff recommended bringing the vape shop topic to the planning commission and joint conceptual workshop if the board wanted additional study; staff offered an accelerated schedule to return recommendations for possible November consideration, or defer to the next summer cycle for further research.
Board members also discussed the rezonings tied to future park parcels; staff said the HPO/CI proposals add an extra level of design review for future park uses because the properties are adjacent to Harlinsdale and the Franklin Road historic district.
