Comprehensive Planning staff at MPC have reworked the public participation process used during sector plan updates.

A sector is a geographical portion of Knox County defined by MPC for planning purposes. The city and county are divided into 12 sectors.

Public participation is necessary for any planning process, but it is especially important for sector plans, which are used each month by MPC as the guide to zoning and subdivision decisions. Citizens, property owners, employers and workers in the sector are encouraged to participate.

First, staff prepare a background report about the sector, containing basic planning information about environmental resources, land use, population, transportation, community facilities and utilities. This is usually available at branches of the Knox County Library and on the MPC website, www.knoxmpc.org, before the first public meetings.

Staff have begun using an open house format for the initial series of public meetings for sector plan updates. Rather than a presentation and response arrangement, these meetings have separate displays set up for the land use, community facility and transportation network components of the plan. Planners can engage community members one-on-one to address concerns and discuss each topic.

During the second round of public meetings, planners will present the draft concepts of the plan. This meeting allows community members to review the concepts of the plan and give feedback on them. This feedback is used to create the draft plan, which is reviewed during the final public meetings for the plan.

The completed Sector Plan is presented to MPC in final draft form. After adoption by MPC, the Sector Plan is presented to city council and county commission for adoption.