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Design Review Board

Level 1: Minor alteration of an existing building/structure

7-A-17-DT

This request is a revision to Certificate of Appropriateness 3-C-16-DT and involves the removal of two raised planters along the State Street elevation. Planter 1 is approximately 45 LF and Planter 2 is approximately 94 LF. The landscaping and plantings that were designed for these beds will remain as indicated on the previously approved landscape plan. The proposed planting beds will follow the grade of the adjacent sidewalk and will not be elevated.

Location
210 Church St
Applicant Request
This request is a revision to Certificate of Appropriateness 3-C-16-DT and involves the removal of two raised planters along the State Street elevation. Planter 1 is approximately 45 LF and Planter 2 is approximately 94 LF. The landscaping and plantings that were designed for these beds will remain as indicated on the previously approved landscape plan. The proposed planting beds will follow the grade of the adjacent sidewalk and will not be elevated.
Staff Comments
The guidelines recommend that parking garages not have blank walls and to allow for future commercial uses (Section 1.A.3a). Based on the previous approval, it acknowledged that commercial uses along the State Street frontage were not feasible based on the location and use of the building. The State Street elevation, however, is highly visible for the people on the James White Parkway off-ramp, in addition to those that generally on the street. The raised planters breaking up the long horizontal blank wall at the base of the parking structure is beneficial to the pedestrian experience along the adjacent sidewalk, as well as for those in vehicles, and should remain as previously approved.

Applicable guidelines:

Section 1.A.3. (PARKING FACILITIES)
It is important to ensure that parking facilities (both public and private) are safe, accessible, and clearly marked. New parking facilities should be designed to be attractive, compatible additions to downtown. In general, new parking facilities should remain subordinate to the street scene.

GUIDELINES:
3a. Create parking garages that do not contain blank walls. Allow for future commercial uses that may not be feasible at the time of construction.
3b. Locate parking garages under structures, or provide for retail, residential or office uses that line the garage. Corner locations are preferable for commercial uses.

Section 1.B.1 (BUILDING MASS, SCALE AND FORM)
Building form should be consistent with the character of downtown as an urban setting and should reinforce the pedestrian activity at the street level. Creating pedestrian-scale buildings, especially at street level, can reduce the perceived mass of buildings. Historically, building technology limited height and subsequently created pedestrian-scaled buildings typically less than 10 stories. Building technology no longer limits the height of buildings and there are no height limitations imposed by the zoning ordinance for downtown Knoxville. However, there is still a need for buildings that respond to pedestrians. The use of 'human-scale' design elements is necessary to accomplish this. Human-scale design elements are details and shapes that are sized to be proportional to the human body, such as, upper story setbacks, covered entries, and window size and placement.
GUIDELINES:
1a. Maintain a pedestrian-scaled environment from block to block.
1e. Avoid blank walls along street-facing elevations.
Applicant

Blackburn

Planning Staff
Mike Reynolds
Phone: 865-215-3827
Email: mike.reynolds@knoxplanning.org
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