Metro Council members passed changes to the Gallatin Pike S-P last night. S-P stands for ‘specific plan’ zoning. It’s an attempt to clean up the major commercial thoroughfare through East Nashville.
Changes include allowing businesses to repair pole signs without having to replace them with ground signs and banning any new payday lenders from opening. But issues remain over a so-called ‘trigger provision.’ Currently, if any building undergoes renovations worth more than 25% of the building’s value, then the whole thing has to be torn down and moved to the street.
East Nashville Councilman Erik Cole says businesses want to exempt buildings with useful life from having to be moved. But Cole says they are having trouble defining what amounts to ‘useful life.’
“I mean remaining useful life of a building that is accurate and works for property owners but also doesn’t open a door or a loophole that everybody that wants to develop on Gallatin Road can step through.”
Cole says this issue will be addressed in a later amendment.
The experiment on Gallatin Pike will lay the foundation for when communities surrounding other commercial corridors look at enacting similar zoning codes.
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