University Area Plan OK'd

Zoning aims for 'old neighborhood' By Cassandra Kimberly (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Friday, February 13, 2009 The Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board approved a zoning plan Thursday that promotes rehabilitation and new construction appropriate for the University District. The zoning overlay would require new buildings to be closer to the street, eliminate huge surface parking lots, encourage walkability and preserve the area's urban character. "It's a design to bring back the old neighborhood," said Emily Trenholm, executive director of the Community Development Council of Greater Memphis. "What it calls for is a bit more of an urban and denser appearance." Similar to the Medical Center zoning plan approved in 2006, the zoning overlay will be a temporary tool planners will use while a larger effort to draft a new code to replace the city-county zoning ordinance and subdivision regulations continues. First proposed by the University Neighborhood Development Corp. and the University of Memphis in November, the groups have been working diligently with Looney Ricks Kiss Architects and the Office of Planning and Development to create an overlay that would benefit the area both in the short term and the long term. The overlay will create a level of control over what businesses and developments go in and stay out of the neighborhoods, said Steve Auterman, urban designer for LRK. "We see the university and the university neighborhoods as a real key asset for the entire Memphis region," he said. "This is a place where we can really make a difference, and this can become a place where you can help attract and retain the talent we want in Memphis, attract the students and researchers and faculty and staff that we want to keep in Memphis." If approved by the Memphis City Council, the next step will be to make infrastructure and streetscape improvements to Walker Avenue, where several prominent businesses and restaurants serving university students are located, said Steve Barlow, executive director of the UNDC. With the help of national experts, the UNDC hopes to make Walker a "Main Street" model for the rest of the University District. "It already is a central business district in the area with some of the most popular and successful businesses," he said. "We're trying to do (improvements) in bite-size pieces, and Walker Avenue is the next logical step."