News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Nashville-based firm Thomason and Associates will lead Sparta’s initiative to draft new guidelines for its historic commercial district.
The Board of Aldermen approved the $18,900 contract Thursday night. Mayor Jeff Young said the final product will give the city’s historic zoning board legal backing to enforce building preservation.
“They come highly recommended,” Young said. “Got a great track record of helping cities like ours. Revise and update their ordinances and guidelines, and they’ll actually come in and do a digital file on the existing buildings, the contingency of them and the year they were constructed. Things like that.”
Young said the Sparta Historic Zoning Board and himself will work closely with the group. Young said not only will new regulations come from the work but the historic board will also get information on how business owners can safely refurbish.
“Most of those folks that own those historic buildings, they want guidelines in place,” Young said. “They want not only the enforcement tool there for the historic zoning board to make sure everybody follows and adheres those guidelines, but they want the information gathering capability from that historic zoning. Somebody comes in and buys a building, and they want to remodel it, refurbish it or a new business. They want to know those guidelines to make that building period correct.”
Young said the new codes should be completed in a few months. Sparta only paid $7,500 for the service thanks to a grant through UCDD.
The historic zoning codes have not been updated for almost 27 years. In past Alderman meetings, the historic zoning board has shared impacts of the outdated guidelines with the character of some buildings changing.
Young said the upgrade in regulations are also needed for Sparta to maintain its certified local government title.
