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Council updates zoning notice rules and backs TDOT planning grant to study Southern Bypass alternatives
Summary
Council amended the zoning ordinance to align notice requirements with state law (increasing hearing notice to 21 days and clarifying when map changes from text edits do not require property‑owner notices) and unanimously backed a $100,000 TDOT planning grant to reassess the Southern Bypass extension.
Council considered an ordinance amending the City of Jackson’s official zoning ordinance (Article 8, administration and enforcement, Section 3) and a resolution to support a TDOT planning grant for the Southern Bypass extension.
City planner/attorney (Speaker 12, Mr. Pollitt) said the ordinance change is intended to align the city code with state law by increasing the required governing‑body hearing notice from 15 to 21 days and to clarify that text amendments that rename, reclassify or combine zoning districts — changes that alter map labels but not the substantive regulations that apply to property — do not trigger the rezoning notice requirement to property owners. “We showed you what it was before and we showed you what it would become with the amendment… the hearing by governing body is the only thing that's changing… to align with state law, we made it 21 days,” the planner said.
Council sought clarity that renaming or recombining districts would not change allowed uses; Pollitt said the rules in a district remain the same unless a substantive rezoning is proposed. The ordinance passed on second reading 9–0.
On transportation, Pollitt and staff asked council to support a TDOT 2025 transportation planning grant ($100,000, no city match) to reevaluate the Southern Bypass extension. Staff said the project’s current NEPA‑level design estimate is well over $200 million and TDOT indicated it is unlikely to fund a project at that cost. The planning grant will fund a study of alternative designs or alignments intended to provide an emergency alternate route when South Highland is closed. Council approved the resolution 8–0.
Next steps: The planning study funded by the TDOT grant will proceed if the grant is approved; staff will continue zoning audits and text amendments with the clarified notice provisions.
