Fourteen homeowners along the south side of Robinson Road in Oak Ridge North have the option of converting their homes into businesses following the adoption of a new city ordinance May 22. The main objective of the new ordinance involves creating a new zoning district and rezoning the homes for limited commercial uses, such as offices and professional services, while preserving the architectural integrity of properties along Robinson, City Attorney Chris Nichols said. “People who are living in their houses today can live in their houses tomorrow,” he said. “It just means as properties are sold, or even voluntarily, property owners can convert their properties to this new commercial district that has limited commercial uses available.” In conjunction with the new zoning district are certain requirements the homeowners must meet if they plan to turn their home into a business. Residents converting to the new zoning option must propose driveway, parking, lighting and sign plans to the planning and zoning commission and City Council for approval to ensure there is some control over how things develop, Nichols said. The planning process for the new ordinance was a year in the making; Robinson residents petitioned the city last summer to rezone their homes due to concerns they would not be able to sell them because of potential future construction on the street. However, residents in other neighborhoods did not want the new zoning district to be a bad reflection on the entrance to the city, P&Z Chairman Cleo Tarver said. “The biggest fear would be that many citizens have driven down the old Oak Ridge Drive on the other side of the freeway, and this was oftentimes their view of what might happen,” he said. “They expressed a lot of concern about that, and we wanted to do everything we could to prevent that, which is why there’s a lot of restrictions in this ordinance.” Nichols said the new ordinance is just one step in the process in terms of how to rezone the properties so commercial use is appropriate. “This ordinance is going to be a living, breathing document,” he said. “It’s going to change eventually, but this represents our first step forward trying to make this transition happen.”