Slides from Jan 14 2025Northeast Knox Community Meeting
What: Northeast Knox Community Meeting on Land Use
Where: Washington Presbyterian Church, 7405 Washington Pike, Corryton, TN 37721
When: Tues, Jan 14, 7:00PM for 1 hour
About: We will discuss two land use items impacting northeast Knox County – a rezoning request on Shipe Rd, and a development plan by Smithbilt for the old Simmons Farm on Roberts Rd. We will provide background information, let you know where these are in the process, and what you can do to engage with decision makers.
Shipe Rd
An attorney filed to rezone the density allowed at 4923 Shipe Rd from 2.5 units per acre to 5 units per acre. Information is available at https://knoxplanning.org/cases/12-B-24-RZ. The applicant said that they originally applied for 5, but after doing some more design work they determined that 3 will make it work. Staff said that their analysis of the updated request was that the existing density (2.5 units per acre) is still the appropriate density based on infrastructure and amenities in the area. The Planning Commission considered this, and then voted to recommend up to 3 units per acre.
The primary argument the applicant and several planning commissioners made was that the county went through a deliberative process to update the Growth Plan and Comprehensive Plan; that this area was changed from Rural Area to Planned Growth Area, and that means it’s ready to develop. You’ll recall we vigorously advocated for different approaches on that map and approach.
The next step is for County Commission to consider this at their zoning meeting, which is Wednesday, Jan 22nd, 5:00PM in the Small Assembly Room. Once County Commission makes a decision, it is final unless appealed to court.
Simmons Farm on Roberts Rd
Smithbilt obtained a rezoning of the old Simmons farm on at 6701 Shipe Rd; county commission approved up to 2 units per acre in March 2024 (2-J-24-RZ for info). Smithbilt then submitted a development plan request to planning commission for November 2024. Gibbs Planning Advocates and KCPA emailed Smithbilt several days before the meeting and requested that they postpone so they could meet with the community and collaborate on ways to make the proposal more compatible with the rural character of Corryton. Our request was refused. We directly asked Planning Commission to postpone for public engagement. At that meeting, Josh Sanderson of Smithbilt said that public engagement was back during the rezoning hearing at March, and Smithbilt did no further engagement with neighbors or the community during the development plan. He talked about how some of the neighbors met with him and asked for there not to be a connection to Mari Ben Acres. That was all the public engagement he thought was necessary. Many of of the Planning Commissioners thought that development was a good idea. Commissioner Katie Overton was very dismissive of community desires – said we [Corryton residents] “it’s not like we are living in Green Acres”. You can watch the planning commission’s discussion (press play – it will start 3h 35m 15s into it) https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Planning Commission approved the development plan with no changes. Several neighbors have appealed the development plan to the Knox County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). It is scheduled to be heard at the BZA meeting on Wednesday, Jan 22nd at 9AM (this is 3 hours earlier than normal due to meeting room conflicts that day).
This development is in the Rural Conservation placetype of the county’s new Comprehensive Land Use Plan (from Advance Knox). This placetype imposes one requirement: Single family residential subdivisions shall be clustered in a pattern that preserves 50 percent or more open space on a given site. Smithbilt has proposed a development where the 141 lots proposed (out of 149 total permitted) are clustered on the front 27 acres on Roberts Rd. This is where the best farmland soil is located (soil map), so they are putting the houses on the best farmland. One planning commissioner, Katie Overton, opined that they are preserving the rural feel with 1/2 acre lots. That is completely wrong. The site plan shows 141 lots on 27 acres, which means that as-developed the appearance will be about 5.2 homes per acre. There are no design standards for the homes, no landscaping requirements or screening requirements. Finally, this plan does not specify anything for the remaining acreage. There is no plan on how it will be preserved, what will or won’t be allowed on it. In fact, it’s marked “Future Development”.