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Staff Recommendation

Deny the HI (Heavy Industrial) land use classification because it is incompatible with nearby residential development.

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PURSUANT TO THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE ONE YEAR PLAN, CHAPTER 1, PLAN AMENDMENT, ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA MUST BE MET FOR ALL ONE YEAR PLAN AMENDMENTS (may meet any of these):

AN ERROR IN THE PLAN:
1. The current LI (Light Industrial) land use classification at this location is consistent with the land use description and location criteria. The LI designation is intended for older industrial areas used for the light manufacturing, assembling, warehousing and distribution of goods that are located within one mile of an interstate interchange on a major collector or arterial street. The subject property is surrounded by general industrial businesses on a major arterial street, and it is a short distance from the I-40 and I-640 interchange. Residential neighborhoods lie to the north of this industrial corridor, divided by a railroad and modest vegetative buffering.
2. The requested HI (Heavy Industrial) land use classification is described as consisting of uses including the production of steel, automobiles, chemicals, cement, and animal by- products, which are viewed as clearly incompatible with areas designated for residential, institutional, office and retail uses. The land uses abutting and within the subject property include the Knoxville Seed and Greenhouse company, and what appears to be outdoor contracting storage yards with construction and trucking equipment. These uses are not to the level of intensity described in the HI designation. The description is also incompatible with the subject property's close proximity to the established Alice Bell/Springhill neighborhood to the north, and the more recent development of the Springhill Villas attached home community completed in 2020 to the northeast.
3. The LI land use classification is the most appropriate designation for the subject property, and it is not the result of an error or omission in the One Year Plan.

A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT PATTERN, OR THE COMPLETION OF A PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT (ROAD, PARK, SEWER), WHICH CHANGES THE BASIS ON WHICH THE PLAN WAS DEVELOPED FOR AN AREA:
1. The area around the subject property on Rutledge Pike has not seen any significant improvements or changes to infrastructure that warrant reconsideration of the One Year Plan. There are no capital improvements planned in the area beyond routine repaving of streets intersecting Rutledge Pike.
2. While there have been two plan amendments from the LI to HI designation along this corridor since 2015, the locations of those properties did not abut substantial residential neighborhoods like the subject property does. There have been no tangible changes in development that point to a need to reconsider the LI land use classification on the subject property.

CHANGE IN PUBLIC POLICY, UNANTICIPATED BY THE PLAN:
1. There have been no changes to public policy as it pertains to the location of heavy industrial land uses. Existing local policies are clear that such uses should not be located near residential areas. This includes the General Plan's Development Policy 8.4, to protect residential areas from encroaching commercial development and other incompatible uses. It also includes the purpose statements of the more intensive industrial zoning districts in the zoning code, which state that they are incompatible with residential uses.

NEW INFORMATION (INCLUDING NEW PLANS AND STUDIES PRODUCED BY KNOXVILLE-KNOX COUNTY PLANNING) BECOMING AVAILABLE, WHICH REVEALS THE NEED FOR A PLAN AMENDMENT:
1. There are no new plans or data that point to the need for more heavy industrial activity along this section of the Rutledge Pike corridor. It is worth noting that the I-H-zoned properties properties abutting residential zoning on the north side of the railroad tracks is legacy zoning that is not the result of a rezoning request. According to historical aerials, the existing auto salvage yard appears to have been in place since the 1960s.