The Knoxville City Council will return to having meetings at the council chambers at its next meeting. Interim City Manager Heather Ussery says the decision was made for a better audience experience, and because council members felt comfortable moving back.
“City council asked to talk about it at the end of the last meeting. We’ve had some frustrations with trying to get the technology to work, and to allow for the public to hear our conversations well. Also, I think the council is comfortable to make that decision now. Masks will still be required, but we will be moving back to the council chambers beginning at our next meeting.”
Knoxville’s downtown assessment by the Iowa Economic Development Authority Downtown Resource Center concludes today. Interim City Manager Heather Ussery invites the public to a presentation.
“They’ll conclude with a public presentation at the Grand Theater at noon Thursday. The public is invited and encouraged to attend that. Masks and social distancing will be required.”
At the presentation, members of the authority will present findings and offer advice to city leaders. Capacity inside the Grand Theater will be limited to 50 percent.
The Knoxville City Council passed an ordinance changing setback requirements for front decks. Interim City Manager Heather Ussery says there’s been an influx of variance requests, and this will hopefully alleviate those requests.
“Our zoning administrator had found that he’s recently taking a lot of variances to the board of adjustment. Once you continue to take variances for the same thing, it’s usually time for the city to look at the code and see if there’s changes that we need to make. This is the process for that. The ordinance that was passed was to allow a 15-yard setback from the front property line to the house. This will allow for those smaller lots to build a larger deck without having to have a variance.”
The Knoxville City Council discussed a request by a resident regarding camping ordinances, particularly related to special events, at its meeting last week. The council decided to not allow for the special request, as the request would not comply with city code. Interim City Manager Heather Ussery says this decision is about setting a precedent.
“The property owner at this specific property had requested to speak to council regarding the regulations that are outlined in city code, and if they had to meet those. The ultimate decision by city council was that they would be enforcing those regulations. We’re trying to enforce the code overall in the city when it comes to camping. There’s a lot of camping that pops up throughout the year for special events, and we’re trying to regulate those as much as possible.”