News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Cookeville City Council will consider on Thursday an ordinance establishing a new historic district overlay zone.
If approved, the zone will include certain properties along East 8th Street.
City Planning Director James Mills said municipal code requires 50-percent of property owners to be in favor of the historic zoning.
“In this case, we have 16 of 19 property owners that have signed a petition requesting inclusion in the district,” Mills said. “It extends from Jefferson to Washington. All the properties are single-family and a majority of them were build in 1940 or earlier.”
The city currently has three historic districts in the areas of North Dixie, Broad and Freeze, and Cream City.
The Cookeville Historic Commission and Planning Commission unanimously approved the historic zoning earlier this year.
“Having these overlays with the historic zoning, as far as I’m concerned, is one of the best things that we’ve done in a long time,” Planning Commission Chairman Jim Stafne said. “It preserves and protects. And everybody, in turn, wants to preserve and protect. I think that does that and I think it does it in an extremely well-done way.”
Properties must have structures at least 50 years or older to be eligible for a historic zone overlay.
On Thursday, council members will hold a public hearing and vote on first reading of the ordinance.
The Cookeville City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday inside city hall.
