Disposition Summary

Approve the O (Office) zoning district because it is consistent with the adopted plans and surrounding development.

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Staff Recommendation

Approve the O (Office) zoning district because it is consistent with the adopted plans and surrounding development.

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PURSUANT TO THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE ZONING ORDINANCE, SECTION 16.1.E, ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS MUST BE MET FOR ALL REZONINGS:

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED OR CHANGING CONDITIONS IN THE AREA AND DISTRICTS AFFECTED, OR IN THE CITY GENERALLY.
1. Development trends in the surrounding area have featured a mix of uses, including the commercial node nearby along Merchant Drive, Clinton Highway, and Pleasant Ridge Road. The area also includes a mix of residential, office, and civic uses like churches, Norwood Elementary School, and Norwood Public Library.
2. Since the early 2000s, there have been multiple rezonings from low density residential to O (Office) zoning along this section of Merchant Drive.
3. The Knoxville Community Development Corporation's (KCDC) multi-family development, Grosvenor Square, is under construction 0.37 miles southwest of the subject property.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSES OF THIS CODE.
1. The O zoning district is intended to provide for an environment of low intensity office and service uses, mixed with residential uses. The O district would be appropriate here, as the subject property is situated on a section of Merchant Drive that features a mix of residential, office, commercial, and civic uses.
2. Rezonings should be based on the entire range of uses allowed within a zone to ensure that any development brought forth at a future time would be compatible with the surrounding land uses. The rezoning would be an extension of the district from the west.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ANY OTHER PART OF THE CITY, NOR SHALL ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT ADVERSE EFFECTS RESULT FROM SUCH AMENDMENT.
1. The O zoning district has dimensional standards intended to mitigate adverse impacts on residential areas. Nonresidential development must adhere to Section 5.3.B of the City of Knoxville's Zoning Ordinance when a lot abuts a single-family residential district. Developments must maintain the privacy of adjacent lots through techniques such as decreased height, landscaping, screening measures, and increased setbacks. Building design elements are also required to incorporate pedestrian-scale features, and site design must minimize potentially dangerous traffic movements and points of conflict between vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists.
2. Article 12.8 of the City's zoning ordinance requires a buffer yard between residential and nonresidential districts for any new construction.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH AND NOT IN CONFLICT WITH THE KNOXVILLE-KNOX COUNTY GENERAL PLAN AND ITS COMPONENT PARTS, INCLUDING ADOPTED SECTOR PLANS, CORRIDOR PLANS, AND RELATED DOCUMENTS.
1. The subject property has the O (Office) land use classification in the City's One Year Plan and Northwest City Sector Plan, which permits the O zoning district.
2. The proposed rezoning is consistent with the General Plan's Development Policy 8, to encourage growth in the existing urban area, and Development Policy 8.5, to protect neighborhoods from intrusive uses. The subject property is currently a vacant lot situated between a mix of office, civic, and small-scale commercial uses that abut medium and low-density residential developments. The O zoning district here would permit low-intensity development compatible with the surrounding area and provide a transition in land use intensity.

WHETHER ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SCHOOLS, PARKS, POLICE AND FIRE PROTECTION, ROADS, SANITARY SEWERS, STORM SEWERS, AND WATER LINES, OR ARE REASONABLY CAPABLE OF BEING PROVIDED PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IF THE AMENDMENT WERE ADOPTED.
1. This is an urbanized area with ample utility and facility infrastructure to support a rezoning of this site.
2. The subject property has direct access to Merchant Drive, a minor arterial street with a sidewalk system extending to the Pleasant Ridge Greenway to the west and the Clinton Highway commercial corridor to the east.