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Memphis committee moves to require special-use approval for correctional facilities in industrial zones
Summary
A Planning & Zoning committee ordinance amendment would require any detention center, jail or prison—public or private—located in specified industrial zoning districts to seek a special-use permit before siting, a change intended to prevent by-right placement without council review.
The Planning & Zoning Committee advanced an ordinance amendment that would revise the Memphis & Shelby County Unified Development Code to require special-use-permit review for correctional facilities—detention centers, jails and prisons—whether public or private, when proposed within the listed zoning districts.
Brett Ragsdale of the Department of Planning and Development said the amendment addresses an inconsistency that treated public and private correctional facilities differently under the code. The change would bring private proposals into the same special-use approval process the city uses for public facilities, requiring council review in districts where such uses were previously allowed by right in heavy industrial zones.
Council members framed the measure as a response to community concern about prior siting decisions (for example, a facility in New Chicago that prompted strong local opposition) and said the change would ensure transparency and local review. Ragsdale said the revised schedule places the ordinance for first reading immediately, second reading on Oct. 7, language-control board review on Oct. 9 and third reading on Oct. 21 if the process proceeds.
The committee endorsed sending the ordinance forward for first reading on the consent agenda; item 51 was held until Dec. 2 for further consideration elsewhere in the meeting schedule.
