Disposition Summary

Approve the One Year Plan amendment to the MU-SD, SCO-3 (Mixed Use-Special District, Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification for the portion of the lot requested because it is a minor extension of that land use class.

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Staff Recommendation

Approve the One Year Plan amendment to the MU-SD, SCO-3 (Mixed Use-Special District, Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification for the portion of the lot requested because it is a minor extension of that land use class.

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This request is to rezone and amend the land use classification of a portion of the subject property. The part of the parcel with frontage along Alcoa Highway is already zoned C-G-1. The parcel is oddly shaped and has a long narrow section extending into an area with residential zoning. This request is to rezone the front half of that narrow strip where it is adjacent to the C-G zone, leaving the back half zoned RN-1 to provide a buffer between future development on this property and the nearby single-family neighborhoods.

ONE YEAR PLAN AMENDMENT REQUIREMENTS:

CHANGES OF CONDITIONS WARRANTING AMENDMENT OF THE LAND USE PLAN (May meet any one of these.)

AN ERROR IN THE PLAN:
1. There are no apparent errors in the plan that would warrant amending the 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 Alcoa Highway improvements constructed within the last few years have granted safer, more limited access to Alcoa Highway via frontage roads along both sides of the highway.
2. Ongoing construction has led to high vacancy rates in commercial and office developments.
3. Since 2000, population growth along the Alcoa Highway corridor has remained steady while the rest of Knox County has seen an approximate increase of 20 percent.

A CHANGE IN PUBLIC POLICY, UNANTICIPATED BY THE PLAN:
1. There has been no change in public policy that would trigger the need for a plan amendment.

NEW INFORMATION (INCLUDING NEW PLANS AND STUDIES PRODUCED BY KNOXVILLE-KNOX COUNTY PLANNING) BECOMING AVAILABLE, WHICH REVEALS THE NEED FOR A PLAN AMENDMENT:
1. The Alcoa Highway Corridor Study was adopted in July 2022 by both the Knox County Commission and the Knoxville City Council.
2. One of the plan's goals included providing a broader array of land uses along Alcoa Highway. This led to an expansion of the MU-SD, SCO-3 (Alcoa Highway Small Area Plan) land use classification to the south on city and county properties along Alcoa Highway (approved in December 2022 by the Knox County Commission and in January 2023 by the Knoxville City Council).
3. It is expected that as additional residential dwellings are built within the Alcoa Highway Corridor, commercial and office development would increase correspondingly as new residents would provide a new customer base to support and increase demand for businesses within the area.