The newly approved tourism district in Troy will offer an opportunity for tourism-focused businesses while protecting surrounding areas according to a city official.

Melissa Sanders, planning administrator, said that the new district is specifically designed to fit tourism developments while also including regulations that would ensure the developments would “present the best” of what Troy has to offer.

“It is not just like somebody says ‘Oh, I want to be in that district;’ It depends on what that development is going to be,” Sanders said. “Any business wanting to be in this zoning would have to go through that rezoning. You have to show a development and plan to show that you’re going to comply with this type of district. It would be really hard for someone with buildings and parcels already in place to apply because it has specific setbacks required.”

Although tourism developments could still apply for other zones such as commercial or industrial, if the planning commission or council denied the zoning request, the businesses would have to wait a year to come back before the planning commission.

Sanders said the creation of this district will protect residents near the developments from the possibility of industrial zoning being granted for a tourism development, only for the project to fall through, bringing the potential for true industrial facilities to locate near residences.

“What this does is it protects surrounding properties so you don’t have straight industrial or straight commercial,” Sanders said. “There are design requirements. Every building has to have a common architectural theme, it has to have underground utilities, there have to be street trees around it, garbage has to be completely screened from outside the development. You want that district to present the best of what you’ve got; you want the best to come into your city.”