By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.—The Paris City Commission received a sneak peek at the newest mural that will be installed in downtown Paris.
Paris Artist Dan Knowles’ newest mural, titled “Experience Paris” will be placed on the wall behind the Commercial Bank & Trust Building on Wood Street. The colorful mural features the Henry County Courthouse, historic downtown buildings, a giant catfish and more.
Knowles has been working on a prototype of the mural which was shown to commissioners by Kathy Ray, who was the grant writer for the mural project when she was President of the Downtown Paris Association.
There already are numerous murals downtown painted by Knowles, John Monroe and Jane Baars. The project is funded through the Tennessee Arts Commission.
In other business:
- The commission approved first reading of an ordinance which would prohibit residential uses for ground floors in downtown buildings. A public hearing will be held before the March meeting.
Community Development Director Jennifer Morris said, “Over a period of time the City has had inquiries regarding residential uses on the ground floor in the downtown footprint, specifically around the court square. Some of those inquiries were from the downtown business owners as well as the Downtown Paris Association. Their concern with allowing residences on the ground floor is that it could ultimately compromise the retail shopping and service mix that we currently enjoy. If several of the spaces became residential this mix would be lost and could possibly affect the property values and the investments so many have made recently. Staff researched this request and made several inquiries to other cities with downtowns comparable to Downtown Paris. The Planning Commission based their recommendation on that information as well as their first-hand knowledge of our downtown. The Planning Commission recognizes the need for residential downtown but feels that it should be limited to second floor levels of the downtown businesses.”
–After second reading, the commission approved the ordinance to rezone County Owned Property located on Hwy 218 By-Pass. It was presented and passed by caption on first reading at the January 2021 meeting and referred to the Planning Commission for their recommendation.
Henry County owns a 20 acre tract of property located on the south side of Highway 218 between Hwy 77 and Hwy 641 North, more specifically it is across from Mockingbird Lane. Currently this property is under review by the Paris Henry County Industrial Committee for marketing the property to prospects. In reviewing the property it was determined that it is zoned B-1 Highway Commercial. For this to be developed by any company or developer for any industrial/manufacturing type use it should be studied to determine which industrial zone would best fit this parcel.
After review, the Planning Commission recommended rezoning this property to M-1.
Top photo: Kathy Ray presents the prototype of the new mural. Jennifer Morris photo.
Bottom photo: Close-up of the prototype. Dan Knowles photo.
