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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 GENERAL PLAN, PLANNING FRAMEWORK CHAPTER, THE PLANNING COMMISSION RESERVES THE AUTHORITY TO RECOMMEND LAND USE PLAN CHANGES BASED ON SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED CONDITIONS. SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED CONDITIONS INCLUDE (may meet any of these):

INTRODUCTION OF SIGNIFICANT NEW ROADS OR UTILITIES THAT WERE NOT ANTICIPATED IN THE PLAN AND MAKE DEVELOPMENT MORE FEASIBLE:
1. The area around the subject property on Rutledge Pike has not seen any significant improvements or changes to infrastructure since the adoption of the East City Sector Plan. There are no capital improvements planned in the area beyond routine repaving of streets intersecting Rutledge Pike.

AN OBVIOUS OR SIGNIFICANT ERROR OR OMISSION 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 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 not compatible with areas designated for residential, institutional, office and retail uses. The land uses on and abutting 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 intended by 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 sector plan.

CHANGES IN GOVERNMENT POLICY, SUCH AS A DECISION TO CONCENTRATE DEVELOPMENT IN CERTAIN AREAS.
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.

TRENDS IN DEVELOPMENT, POPULATION OR TRAFFIC THAT WARRANT RECONSIDERATION OF THE ORIGINAL PLAN PROPOSAL:
1. While there have been two plan amendments from LI to HI 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. 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.