HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – The Community and Development Services Department in Hopkinsville have spent the last ten months focused on making sure properties in the city are properly zoned. However, when the department first began the project, they found there were around 600 parcels (properties) that were not zoned.

“What zoning does is it protects property values by giving reasonable assurance to what the future use will be on the property,” said Community and Development Services executive director Tom Britton. “If you’ve got a residential house and you’re residentially zoned, you have some certainty that your neighbors not going to be able to build something that’s going to create a nuisance to your investment.”

Zoning designation importance

In Hopkinsville, residential districts can be zoned as R-1 through R-5, with various classifications ranging from single-family residential districts to multi- family residential districts, with different classifications for businesses. There is a comprehensive plan in place by the city which lays out how areas are anticipated to develop in the future, and zoning is intended to compliment this plan.

Britton clarified that the percentage of parcels that aren’t zoned is small in comparison to the 13,000 parcels that are properly zoned, but it is still important, nonetheless.

“Any time we’re looking at zoning parcels in this many different areas it requires a tremendous amount of staff time and resources. But, at the same time it’s an important thing that we have responsible for so that’s why we are taking the time this year to get it done,” Britton said.

First steps

The process began by looking at the comprehensive plan and reaching out to property owners. They then move to public hearings to make sure property owners have a chance to voice any concerns. Next, they move to the planning commission and city council for approval. Each property can take three to four months to get properly zoned.

“This has been a long process and we’ve still got several more months at it, but we are hoping we have these parcels zoned in the next few months,” Britton told Christian County Now.

He went on to say that overall, they have gotten mostly positive feedback from community members who see the zoning as a protection of their investments. They are hoping to wrap up this process by the end of 2024, and as of April, they have made recommendations for over 200 parcels so far.

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