Disposition Summary

Approve the CA (General Business) zone because it is consistent with the Knox County Comprehensive Plan.

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Staff Recommendation

Approve the CA (General Business) zone because it is consistent with the Knox County Comprehensive Plan.

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PURSUANT TO THE KNOX COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE, ARTICLE 6.30.01, THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS MUST BE MET FOR ALL REZONINGS (must meet all of these):

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE NECESSARY BECAUSE OF SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED OR CHANGING CONDITIONS IN THE AREA AND DISTRICTS AFFECTED, OR IN THE COUNTY GENERALLY:
1. This segment of W Hendron Chapel Road includes several residential properties in a rural setting and two commercial properties that are primarily accessed from Chapman Highway. The 2024 amendment to the Growth Policy Plan expanded the Planned Growth Area designation to properties south of W Hendron Chapel Road and Chapman Highway, indicating that this area is anticipated to experience growth.
2. The northern portion of the subject parcel has been zoned CA since at least the late 1970s, and the proposed rezoning will be an expansion of the zone.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICABLE ZONING ORDINANCE:
1. The CA zone is intended to accommodate general retail business and services. The neighboring properties to the east include commercial uses, and the area meets the intent of the zoning ordinance.
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 PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ANY OTHER PART OF THE COUNTY, NOR SHALL ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT ADVERSE EFFECTS RESULT FROM SUCH AMENDMENT.
1. Although the property has frontage on Chapman Highway, access to the major arterial street may be limited due to an existing guardrail along the front and the lack of a center turn lane on this segment. Access to Chapman Highway would also require TDOT approval. The existing access point off of W Hendron Chapel Road would likely need to remain. While the proposed rezoning may increase commercial traffic on this road, it would likely be contained to the first 1,000 feet since this parcel is so close to Chapman Highway. Additionally, Hendron Chapel Road has a signalized intersection at Chapman Highway, and it is a major collector street expected to handle such traffic.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH AND NOT IN CONFLICT WITH THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN OF KNOX COUNTY, INCLUDING ANY OF ITS ELEMENTS, MAJOR ROAD PLAN, LAND USE PLAN, COMMUNITY FACILITIES PLAN, AND OTHERS:
1. The CA zone would bring zoning into compliance with the CMU (Corridor Mixed-Use) place type of this property, as designated in the Knox County Comprehensive Plan. The existing A zone is not permitted in the CMU place type, but the requested CA zone is partially related to it.
2. Partially related zone considerations must meet additional criteria provided in Appendix H of the Comprehensive Plan to ensure their compatibility with the place type. The CA zone is deemed appropriate here because it would permit uses and development forms that are consistent with the primary and secondary uses described in the place type (criterion 1), and it is compatible with the current zoning of adjacent sites (criterion 2), particularly the eastern commercial property with dual CA and A zones.
3. The property's location on a commercial and office corridor along a major arterial street is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's Action 9.3, which recommends growth in areas that are already served by adequate infrastructure.
4. The Chapman Highway Corridor Study (2006) recommends small-scale, neighborhood-serving commercial uses at the highway's intersection with Hendron Chapel Road (p. 38 of the study). The subject property is close to the intersection, and the CA zone is the least intensive commercial zone allowed in the CMU place type.
5. The rezoning is also aligned with the property's location in the Planned Growth Area of the Growth Policy Plan and is consistent with the policies related to the Planned Growth Area.