Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Works topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brownsville sets minimum driveway/access-point standards, limits gravel driveways in subdivisions
Summary
Ordinance 1039, approved by aldermen, creates minimum widths for access points (20 feet for some districts, 40 feet for commercial and residential) and requires paved driveways in residential subdivisions for the first 100 feet to reduce loose-rock hazards; existing gravel driveways are grandfathered.
The Board of Aldermen approved Ordinance 1039 to set minimum standards for driveways and access points in city zoning districts and to require paved drive surfaces in residential subdivisions for the first 100 feet from the street.
City staff said the provision establishes a 20-foot minimum access width in the NPO district and a 40-foot minimum in commercial and residential districts, aligning Brownsville rules with Tennessee Department of Transportation practice. “We just put those bare minimum requirements that were missing in our current document,” Merrill, a staff member, said during the reading. Staff said TDOT allows a 40-foot maximum driveway width in many cases and that local code had lacked such clear minimums.
The ordinance also requires that residential subdivision driveways be concrete or asphalt for a distance of 100 feet from the street, a change prompted by public-works concerns about loose gravel being tracked into streets and damaging vehicles. Staff said existing gravel surfaces would be grandfathered and the ordinance will not force property owners to repave immediately.
After a brief discussion, aldermen moved and approved Ordinance 1039 on the reading; the meeting transcript shows the motion and an approval call but does not record a roll-call tally.
