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Staff Recommendation

Approve this request for a Certificate of Appropriateness for a building permit, subject to two conditions.

1. Meeting all applicable requirements of the Knox County Department of Engineering and Public Works.
2. Meeting all applicable requirements of the Knox County Zoning Ordinance.

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SITE HISTORY:
1. Four office/warehouse buildings were built in 1974. This was before the TTCDA Guidelines were adopted, which occurred in 1983.
2. In 2020, a fifth building was approved by the TTCDA (Case # 3-B-20-TOB). Two waivers were approved with the site plans: 1) The number of required parking spaces was reduced from 15 to 5, and 2) The imperious area ratio (IAR) was increased from 70% to 91.6%.
3. Revised plans for the fifth building were approved in 2021 (Case # 5-A-21-TOB). The revised plans still utilized the waiver for the IAR, which was still in effect, but the waiver for the parking was no longer needed. As part of that approval, the site was to include landscaping where it was possible to do so. The TTCDA board acknowledged the difficulty this would present due to the existing surface conditions of the site and discussed possible solutions with the applicant. The applicant was to submit revised landscape plans that incorporated the agreed upon landscaping. Three new waivers were approved:
a. Increase the allowable footcandles to 3.8 fcs along sidewalks (vs. the 1.0 fc max allowed).
b. Increase the allowable footcandles to 4.7 fc in parking areas (versus the 2.5 maximum
allowed in the Guidelines).
C. Waiver of the requirement listing 60 feet as the maximum distance from any parking stall to a medium or large tree, due to the existing surface conditions and the fact that the parking is not visible from the public street.
4. A revised landscape plan was approved in 2022 (Case # 8-B-22-TOB) in accordance with the TTCDA comments at the 2020 meeting, adding landscaping in the areas recommended by the board.

PURSUANT TO ARTICLE V, SECTION 2 OF THE TTCDA ADMINISTRATIVE RULES AND PROCEDURES, THE DECISION OF THE TTCDA TO APPROVE REQUESTS FOR BUILDING PERMIT CERTIFICATES OF APPROPRIATENESS MUST BE BASED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

A. CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSAL WITH THE TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGY CORRIDOR DESIGN GUIDELINES.
1. With the proposed new wash bay, the total building area would be 73,174 square feet for a total Ground Area Coverage and Floor Area Ratio of 14.53%, which is within the limits of the Design Guidelines.
2. The new building does not increase the IAR, as it is proposed to be constructed in an area that is already an impervious surface. Therefore, the IAR will remain the same (approximately 91.5%). As stated previously, a waiver to approve a 91.6% IAR was approved by the TTCDA.
3. There are 28 parking spaces on the site, which complies with the range of 27 to 41 spaces required by the TTCDA Guidelines. No parking is needed for the new wash bay, so the site would remain in compliance with TTCDA Guidelines.
4. No new lighting is proposed.
5. The applicant will be using prefinished vertical metal siding on all four sides of the building. The use of non-decorative metal siding is discouraged. However, it matches the other buildings in the complex, and is not visible from the street.
6. No new landscaping is proposed, but no new requirements would be generated by this new building addition.
7. No signage is proposed with this request. Should signage be desired in the future, it would need to be submitted in a separate application at a future time.

B. CONFORMITY OF THE PROPOSAL WITH THE KNOXVILLE-KNOX COUNTY MINIMUM SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS AND EITHER THE KNOXVILLE ZONING ORDINANCE, OR THE KNOX COUNTY ZONING ORDINANCE, AS APPROPRIATE.
1. The subject property has dual zoning. Part of it is zoned I (Industrial) and part of it is zoned CB (Business and Manufacturing). The entire site is in the TO (Technology Overlay) zone. An Office/Warehouse use is a permissible use in both the I and CB zones, but the TO zone requires approval of plans by the TTCDA.
2. The applicant is requesting approval of a new wash bay at an existing office/warehouse facility.
3. The applicant is not subdividing and the zone allows more than one primary use on a lot.

C. EFFECT OF THE PROPOSAL ON THE SUBJECT PROPERTY, SURROUNDING PROPERTY AND THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE.
1. This is a minor addition to an existing building. It faces the rear of the site and uses the same materials as the existing building. It will not be visible from the street.
2. Historical aerials show the site has been largely devoid of vegetation since sometime between 1985 and 1995. As stated previously, the proposed building does not add any additional impervious surface as the area in which it is being built is already impervious.

D. CONSISTENCY OF THE PROPOSAL WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF KNOX COUNTY DEPARTMENTS, AS APPROPRIATE.
1. Access to the site is off Cogdill Road, a minor collector. This is an existing access point that will continue to be utilized.
2. The stormwater division within Knox County Engineering had no comments on the plans. A stormwater detention area is existing and deemed sufficient to serve the proposed development.