Knoxville City Council on first and final reading approved the city's 2025 one-year plan but attached a time-limited hold on removing location standards for duplexes, after hours of public comment and a lengthy council debate.

The council voted 8-1 to adopt the plan while inserting language that keeps the current location standards on pages 29 6 of the 2024 adopted one-year plan operative until 120 days after the Planning Commission holds a public hearing on design standards for conversions of single-family homes to duplexes; after that period the location standards will expire.

The amendment was proposed by Councilmember Roberto and discussed at length by council members who said they wanted design standards for conversions to match standards for new duplex construction. Director Brooks (planning staff) told the council city planning staff could draft the conversion language and take it to the Planning Commission in time for the schedule council requested.

Supporters of the plan said loosening location restrictions would increase housing supply and help infill development. Drew Harper, vice president of VES Knoxville, told council that expanding where duplexes are permitted would add housing choices, discourage sprawl and serve climate and fiscal goals.

Opponents urged caution and asked that design standards be adopted for converted duplexes, arguing conversions should be held to the same design criteria used for new duplex construction. Carlene Malone, a former city council member, and Joyce (last name not specified), president of Scenic Knoxville, asked council to require that conversions "fit into the neighborhood pattern" and to adopt clear conversion design standards before changing location rules.

Council and staff exchanged specifics about where design language would be added. Director Brooks said the principal use standards in City Code section 9.3 (dwelling, two-family) could be amended to include conversions and that the change would be a relatively minor text amendment requiring Planning Commission review.

Councilmember Roberto's amendment inserted a process-based timeline rather than a fixed calendar date. City staff and the city attorney (Mr. Frost) discussed legal timing tied to Planning Commission hearings; council settled on the 120-day window after the Planning Commission public hearing as the trigger for council consideration.

Council members expressed differing priorities: some emphasized the urgent need for more housing, others emphasized protecting existing neighborhood character and homeowners' investments. Several speakers during public comment recounted neighborhood impacts and urged either a pause or clear standards for conversions.

The ordinance, as amended, preserves the existing location standards for duplexes until the Planning Commission holds the conversion-design public hearing and council acts within the 120-day window. The council recorded the final vote as 8 in favor, 1 opposed.

What comes next: planning staff agreed to draft conversion-design language for inclusion in Section 9.3 (principal use standards, subsection j). The matter will go to the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission for a public hearing before it is returned to council for final action within the 120-day window established by the amendment.