Disposition Summary

Approve the text amendment to the city properties in the South County Sector Plan, and the map amendment extending the MU-SD, SCO-3 (Mixed Use-Special District, Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification to include the parcels shown on Exhibit A, because the amendments meet multiple criteria required for a sector plan amendment.

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Staff Recommendation

Approve the text amendment to the city properties in the South County Sector Plan, and the map amendment extending the MU-SD, SCO-3 (Mixed Use-Special District, Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification to include the parcels shown on Exhibit A, because the amendments meet multiple criteria required for a sector plan amendment.

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The purpose of this request is to propose text and map amendments to the South County Sector Plan's MU-SD, SCO-3 (Mixed Use-Special District, Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification. The MU-SD, SCO-3 land use classification encompasses property along the east and west sides of Alcoa Highway roughly bounded by Mount Vernon Drive to the north to Maloney Road to the south.

The proposed amendments to the South County Sector Plan were recommendations presented in the recently completed Alcoa Highway Corridor Study, adopted by City Council on July 26, 2022 (City Ordinance O-98-2022) and County Commission on July 25, 2022 (County Resolution RZ-22-7-101). The study was completed with public input received in a design charette and several meetings. Business owners and property owners were a part of the process, and all property owners included in this request have been notified of this request.

The overall study objective was to develop an approach for managing and envisioning development and redevelopment along the Alcoa Highway Corridor. Several goals were identified, the first of which was to allow a broader array of land use along Alcoa Highway. The proposed map and text amendments are part of the strategy to accomplish that goal.

EXTENSION OF MU-SD, SCO-3 LAND USE CLASSIFICATION
On the east side of Alcoa Highway, the MU-SD SCO-3 land use class will extend south and cross over Maloney Drive so that the MU-SD area is on both sides of the street. On the west side of Alcoa Highway, it will extend south to terminate at the interchange with Governor John Sevier Highway, and on the northern end of MU-SD on the west side of Alcoa Highway, the designation extends towards Alcoa Highway to encompass two parcels mistakenly designated ROW (Right-of-Way). Both are under private ownership and are zoned RN-1. The Exhibit maps show the parcels included in this request. Since the MU-SD contains a mix of land uses, it provides more flexibility in how properties are used, so extending its borders provides that flexibility to a greater area along Alcoa Highway.

ASSIGNMENT OF ZONES TO THE MU-SD, SCO-3 LAND USE CLASSIFICATION
Currently, the MU-SD, SCO-3 land use class does not list any specific zones it allows. Instead, it allows a mix of commercial and office uses in an attempt to be more flexible. Therefore, any commercial or office zone would be considered consistent with the South County Sector Plan even though not all of the commercial zones are compatible with the corridor. This proposal recommends allowing C-G-1 and C-G-2 (both are General Commercial Districts) for properties in the City, and CA (General Business), CB (Business and Manufacturing), or CN (Neighborhood Commercial) for properties in the County.


SECTOR PLAN AMENDMENT REQUIREMENTS FROM GENERAL PLAN (May meet any one of these):

CHANGES OF CONDITIONS WARRANTING AMENDMENT OF THE LAND USE PLAN:
1. Construction of extensive TDOT improvements in this area have just been completed.
2. Many businesses left the Alcoa Highway corridor during the highway construction, resulting in a multitude of vacancies (see Exhibit Map).
3. The Alcoa Highway Corridor Study was recently adopted and included the proposed plan amendments.

INTRODUCTION OF SIGNIFICANT NEW ROADS OR UTILITIES THAT WERE NOT ANTICIPATED IN THE PLAN AND MAKE DEVELOPMENT MORE FEASIBLE:
1. The recently completed TDOT improvements included the addition of travel lanes in both travel directions, installation of concrete barriers separating Alcoa Highway from the frontage roads to the east and west, and roundabouts with overpasses to move traffic across Alcoa Highway.

AN OBVIOUS OR SIGNIFICANT ERROR OR OMISSION IN THE PLAN:
1. The Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan within the South County Sector Plan incorporated the TDOT project for Alcoa Highway and remains a viable plan for the area.
2. However, the plan should have included more properties in the commercial node that already existed between Mount Vernon Road and Maloney Drive to create more flexibility in how those properties could be used.
3. The intent was for the MU-SD to be more flexible with the zones it allowed, so the plan did not assign zones to this MU-SD. Instead, the MU-SD allowed commercial and office uses, so any commercial or office zone could be requested and be consistent with the South County Sector Plan. However, not all of the commercial zones are appropriate in the corridor.

TRENDS IN DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION, OR TRAFFIC THAT WARRANT RECONSIDERATION OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN PROPOSAL:
1. There have been no significant changes in population - the population in the neighborhoods surrounding the commercial node comprising this MU-SD has remained steady. However, Knox County in general experienced a strong population increase, so this area is out of alignment with how the rest of the County is growing. In this case, the lack of trend in development is one of the reasons for the proposed changes.

State law regarding amendments of the general plan (which includes Sector Plan amendments) was changed with passage of Public Chapter 1150 by the Tennessee Legislature in 2008. The law now provides for two methods to amend the plan at TCA 13-3-304:
- The Planning Commission may initiate an amendment by adopting a resolution and certifying the amendment to the Legislative Body. Once approved by majority vote of the Legislative Body, the amendment is operative.
- The Legislative Body may also initiate an amendment and transmit the amendment to the Planning Commission. Once the Planning Commission has considered the proposed amendment and approved, not approved, or taken no action, the Legislative Body may approve the amendment by majority vote and the amendment is operative.