To be heard July 10, 2025Agenda Item No. 40

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Staff Recommendation

Deny the CA (General Business) zone because it does not meet all of the criteria for a rezoning. The TO (Technology Overlay) zone would be retained.

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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 ZONES AFFECTED, OR IN THE COUNTY GENERALLY.
1. Since the mid-1990s, development trends in the surrounding area have included a mix of uses. Near Pellissippi Parkway, development has featured office and commercial uses, whereas east of Pellissippi Parkway along Lovell Road, development has primarily been residential.
2. A greenway trail has been proposed along Plumb Creek, which runs through the rear of the subject property, that would connect the existing Pellissippi Greenway to Ball Camp Pike Elementary.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSES OF THE APPLICABLE ZONING ORDINANCE.
1. The CA (General Business) zone is intended for general retail business and services.
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 CA zone permits a wide array of uses that do not require use-on-review approval, which could be problematic at this location, such as drive-through facilities and hotels.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ANY OTHER PART OF THE COUNTY NOR SHALL ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT ADVERSE EFFECTS RESULT FROM SUCH AN AMENDMENT.
1. The CN (Neighborhood Commercial) zone has development standards intended to maximize compatibility between commercial and adjacent residential uses, such as requirements for site lighting, landscaping, and pedestrian connections. Though nonresidential development in the CA zone would require landscape buffering, fewer standards are in place to mitigate impacts on residential uses.
2. The TTCDA Design Guidelines require a 100-ft minimum building setback for properties abutting a residential zone.
3. There is currently a condition on this site prohibiting driveway access to Lovell Road (11-C-17-RZ(k)). The condition to restrict access to Schaeffer Road is appropriate to retain due to the slope and construction easements at the front of the property (Exhibit B) and the proximity of nearby access points.
4. A 2020 recorded plat shows a 50-ft no-build stream buffer is in place at the rear of the subject property along Plumb Creek (Exhibit B).

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 subject property's place type in the Knox County Comprehensive Plan is CC (Corridor Commercial). The CA zone is directly related to the CC place type. However, the environmental site constraints and the property's proximity to the Schaeffer Road and Lovell Road intersection make the more intensive uses allowed in CA problematic.
2. The proposed rezoning does not support the Comprehensive Plan's Implementation Policy 2, to ensure that development is sensitive to the existing community character. The proposed rezoning would permit more intensive commercial uses adjacent to a residential neighborhood and disrupt the established transition in land use intensity between more intensive zones and residential uses.
3. The subject property is within the Growth Policy Plan's Planned Growth Area, which encourages a reasonably compact pattern of development and promotes the expansion of the Knox County economy. The proposed CA zone does not conflict with the intent of the Planned Growth Area.