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Staff Recommendation

Deny the CN (Neighborhood Commercial) zone because the subject property does not meet the zone's intent or location criteria.

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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 early 2000s, development trends in the surrounding area have been mainly residential, consisting primarily of single-family dwellings on various lot sizes and limited townhouse developments. Commercial development has been concentrated east of the subject property near Oak Ridge Highway, a commercial corridor a little over a mile away up Schaad Road to the northeast.
2. The Schaad Road Improvement Project is underway a quarter mile west of the subject property.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSES OF THE APPLICABLE ZONING ORDINANCE.
1. The CN (Neighborhood Commercial) zone provides the opportunity to locate limited retail and service uses in a manner convenient to and yet not disruptive to established residential neighborhoods. It is intended to provide for the recurring shopping and personal service needs of nearby residential areas. Development should be compatible with the character of the adjacent neighborhood. This zoning should generally be placed at street intersections that include either a collector or arterial street, as close to the edge of the neighborhood as possible. The subject property is not located at an intersection of classified streets. It is in the middle of a section of Schaad Road that mainly consists of residential development. Limited civic uses, such as a church and Amherst Elementary, are nearby, but they are located closer to the intersection of Johnson Road and Schaad Road.
2. Rezonings should be based on the entire range of uses allowed within a zone to ensure that any development brought forth in the future would be compatible with the surrounding land uses. The range of permitted uses in the CN zone is limited to those generally patronized on a frequent basis by neighborhood residents.

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. As stated previously, the subject property is not located near an intersection, and it is situated between residential uses. As such, approval of the CN zone in this location would be an encroachment of a commercial zone in a residential area.
2. Access from Schaad Road would be right-in, right-out only. Due to the untraversable median, traffic from the east would be required to make a U-turn to access the subject property. Future driveway access would be near the U-turn point, which would not be ideal for the higher traffic volumes associated with commercial and retail uses.
3. The CN zone has development standards intended to maximize compatibility between commercial and adjacent residential uses, such as increased setbacks, landscaping standards, pedestrian connections, and site lighting requirements.

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 is designated with the SMR (Suburban Mixed Residential) place type in the Knox County Comprehensive Plan. The SMR place type is intended to support residential areas with a mix of housing types and connectivity to surrounding neighborhoods, parks, and neighborhood commercial areas. The CN zone is partially related to the SMR place type.
2. Per Appendix H of the Comprehensive Plan, additional criteria must be met for partially related zones. The proposed rezoning meets the first criterion, as the CN zone aligns with the secondary commercial uses in the SMR place type.
3. The Comprehensive Plan has identified other nearby areas along Schaad Road as more appropriate for commercial development, such as the section of CMU (Corridor Mixed-Use) to the west and TCMU (Town Center Mixed-Use) at the intersection of Johnson Road and Schaad Road to the east. The plan has identified the area between the two aforementioned place types as more appropriate for residential development, and designated SMR and SR (Suburban Residential).
4. The proposed rezoning does not comply with Implementation Policy 2, to ensure that new development is sensitive to the existing community character. Though there are development standards in the CN zone, the placement of commercial and retail amenities in the middle of a residential block may disrupt the character of the surrounding neighborhood.