Knoxville planning staff to propose cottage‑court and middle‑housing code amendments

Planning staff presented a set of proposed zoning changes intended to expand middle‑housing options while adding site and design safeguards, including a new cottage‑court standard and clarifications to Article 4.6 of the zoning code.

The amendments would add a cottage‑court housing type—small detached, house‑scale units grouped around a shared court—and change how “middle housing” applications are processed. Lindsey, planning staff, said the goal is to bring the standards to the Planning Commission in July and, if approved, to City Council in August.

The nut graf: staff said the package is designed to create an option for multiple primary structures on a single lot that fits existing neighborhood patterns while avoiding ad‑hoc lot stacking and other layouts that have caused compatibility problems.

Staff explained the cottage‑court concept as groups of one‑ to one‑and‑a‑half‑story small homes arranged around a shared open court, with parking accessed from alleys or clustered at the rear.…