To be heard August 14, 2025Agenda Item No. 15

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Staff Recommendation

Deny the RN-2 (Single-Family Residential Neighborhood) zoning district due to safety concerns with driveway access and road conditions and the lack of changing conditions in the area, which do not support a rezoning of this site.

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PURSUANT TO THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE ZONING ORDINANCE, SECTION 16.1.E, ALL OF THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS MUST BE MET FOR ALL REZONINGS:

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF SUBSTANTIALLY CHANGED OR CHANGING CONDITIONS IN THE AREA AND DISTRICTS AFFECTED, OR IN THE CITY GENERALLY.
1. Recent rezonings in the surrounding area have predominantly occurred to the northeast near Clinton Highway and Gap Road, where there has been a gradual transition to office, commercial, and medium density residential zoning. Rezonings in the more immediate area are not recent, dating back to the 1980s and 90s but not continuing past that time.
2. The subject property is within an established neighborhood that has not experienced any significant changing conditions over the last thirty years, and has remained largely unchanged outside of the intermittent construction of single-family dwellings throughout the neighborhood.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT IS CONSISTENT WITH THE INTENT AND PURPOSES OF THIS CODE.
1. The RN-2 (Single-Family Residential Neighborhood) zoning district is intended to accommodate low-density single-family residential development on relatively small lots with smaller setbacks. The subject property meets this description, as the surrounding neighborhood largely consists of single-family dwellings on lots smaller than one acre. However, the subject property's site constraints do not support increased intensity at this location.
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 RN-2 district allows the same uses as the existing RN-1 (Single-Family Residential Neighborhood) district.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL NOT ADVERSELY AFFECT ANY OTHER PART OF THE CITY, NOR SHALL ANY DIRECT OR INDIRECT ADVERSE EFFECTS RESULT FROM SUCH AMENDMENT.
1. The subject property is located on a section of Wilson Road that appears to have limited sight distance due to the curvature of the road from the west (Exhibit A). Any proposed new lot within the City of Knoxville is required to have adequate sight distance meeting or exceeding the minimum standards for stopping sight distance identified in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Geometric Design. Should the lot be later subdivided, sight distance verification would need to be obtained.
2. Furthermore, this section of Wilson Road has experienced a disproportionate number of automobile accidents between 2020 and 2024 (Exhibit A). The subject property's future driveways would likely be within 200 ft of the bend on the road, where most of the crashes have occurred likely due to limited visibility. As such, it would not be appropriate to increase intensity at this location.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT SHALL BE CONSISTENT WITH AND NOT IN CONFLICT WITH THE KNOXVILLE-KNOX COUNTY GENERAL PLAN AND ITS COMPONENT PARTS, INCLUDING ADOPTED SECTOR PLANS, CORRIDOR PLANS, AND RELATED DOCUMENTS.
1. The subject property is designated LDR (Low Density Residential) under the City's One Year Plan and North City Sector Plan. The proposed RN-2 district is permitted in the LDR land use class.
2. The rezoning does not comply with the General Plan's Development Policy 9.3, to ensure the context of new development does not impact existing neighborhoods and communities. As previously mentioned, the subject property is situated near a blind curve along Wilson Road that has experienced a significant number of automobile related crashes.

WHETHER ADEQUATE PUBLIC FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, SCHOOLS, PARKS, POLICE AND FIRE PROTECTION, ROADS, SANITARY SEWERS, STORM SEWERS, AND WATER LINES, OR ARE REASONABLY CAPABLE OF BEING PROVIDED PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTY IF THE AMENDMENT WERE ADOPTED.
1. The subject property is within a mile of the I-640/I-275 interchange and the entrance to the commercial corridor along Clinton Highway.