Disposition Summary

Approve A (Agricultural) zoning because it is consistent with the Knox County Comprehensive Plan and surrounding development.

---

Staff Recommendation

Approve A (Agricultural) zoning because it is consistent with the Knox County Comprehensive Plan and surrounding development.

---

The existing PR (Planned Residential) zone on the property was rezoned in 1974. This legacy zoning does not have a density assigned to it. The density of the zone was controlled by the sector plan in place. The most recent sector plan in place was LDR (Low Density Residential), which considers up to 5 du/ac in the Planned Growth Area.

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 DISTRICTS AFFECTED, OR IN THE COUNTY
GENERALLY:
1. The applicant is requesting to rezone a portion of the property to the A zone. Although the area has been zoned PR (Planned Residential) for decades, the area has remained forested.
2. This property is 0.1 miles from Carter Elementary and within the 0.5 Mile Rural Crossroad in the Carter Community and Development Corridor along Strawberry Plains Pike as described in the East County Community Plan. It is largely rural and agricultural in character, particularly in this location along McCubbins Rd.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICABLE ZONING ORDINANCE:
1. The A (Agricultural) zone is intended to provide for a wide range of agricultural and related uses as well as residential uses with low population densities and other compatible uses which generally require large areas or open spaces.
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 PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ANY OTHER PART OF THE COUNTY, NOR SHALL ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT ADVERSE EFFECTS RESULT FROM SUCH AMENDMENT.
1. The area is largely rural in character and consists primarily of rural residential and agricultural and forested land uses. The existing land use map shows this property as Industrial because the parcel includes 38.8 acres on both sides of Strawberry Plains Pike. Only the north side has an industrial business, so this property would not require remediation. This rezoning to A is consistent with the land uses and development pattern surrounding the subject property.
2. A blue line stream runs through the property and 69% of the property is within the Hillside Protection Area. The large lots required for the A zone make this unlikely to cause adverse impacts for surrounding properties.

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 RC (Rural Conservation) place type considers A (Agricultural) zoning to be directly related and is appropriate zoning to implement.
2. This proposed downzoning to A (Agricultural) is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's implementation policy 7, encourage development practices that conserve and connect natural features and habitat, and implementation policy 2, ensure that development is sensitive to existing community character.
3. The proposed A zone is consistent with the purposes of the Planned Growth Area designation are to encourage a reasonably compact pattern of development, promote expansion of the Knox County economy, offer a wide range of housing choices, and coordinate the action of the public and private sectors, particularly with regard to provision of adequate roads, utilities, schools, drainage and other public facilities and services.