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Article published Apr 6, 2007 'Tweaking the regulations': Commission to consider building-height changes
By Joel Davis of The Daily Times Staff
The Blount County Commission will consider allowing three-story structures to be built in the county's Suburbanizing and Commercial zoning districts.
A proposed zoning amendment to be discussed Tuesday would increase the maximum building height in the county's Suburbanizing District and Commercial District designations from 35 feet to 45 feet for flat roofs and to 55 feet at the ridgeline for peaked roofs.
Most Suburbanizing District areas are just outside the city limits of Alcoa and Maryville, Building Commissioner Roger Fields said.
"If you were to draw a ring around the cities of Alcoa and Maryville, it's approximately a five-mile ring around that area," Fields said. "It's more in the urban growth boundaries of the city."
There are some places where the district extends beyond the growth boundaries, though, which concerns Doug Gamble of the Raven Society community group.
"This apparent disinterest in the concept of urban growth boundaries (is) at the heart of some of our problems with it," Gamble said.
The Commercial District zones are found along Lamar Alexander Parkway (U.S. 321) and U.S. 411 South, down to the Calderwood Highway (U.S. 129) junction, Fields said.
"This is just the parcels that abut those arterial roads," he said.
There are also a few parcels on West Lamar Alexander Parkway near Friendsville and along Alcoa Highway toward Knoxville. William Blount Drive also has commercial zonings along it, according to Fields.
The proposed height change is related to a 296-unit apartment complex planned for a 22.8-acre site near the intersection of William Blount Drive and Dotson Memorial Road.
"That project probably showed the need for tweaking the regulations to keep the higher-density type developments like that closer in the appropriate areas," Fields said.
This is one of several amendments that would relax current zoning regulations up for consideration.
The changes will be discussed during a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday in Room 430 of the Blount County Courthouse.
The Raven Society, which opposes the proposed amendment, has raised concerns about whether necessary fire protection exists for buildings that size in the county.
Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan said his fire department has the necessary equipment to respond to a fire in a building of the proposed heights.
"Any time you increase building size, you have the potential for bigger fires," he said. "We do have a 75-foot ladder truck. It's designed for the high buildings. We bought it for schools, businesses and industry. We're being proactive for the fires that we might encounter."
There are other concerns about high buildings in the county, though.
"The higher the building, the larger the fire load," McClanahan said. "The county needs to make sure there is an adequate water supply for their hydrants."
The proposed height limit would basically match that of the equivalent zoning districts within the city of Maryville.
"In our business, transportation, central community and industrial (zoning), 55 feet is the requirement, both flat roof and to the median of the ridge," said Pam Arnett, public information officer for the city of Maryville.
Buildings in downtown Maryville can be higher.
"Downtown varies," she said. "It's an area in itself."
Chris Hamby, Alcoa Director of Planning and Codes, said her city allows higher buildings in certain zones.
"Forty-five feet is typically your standard, but the General Business E Zone will allow up to 70 feet or five stories," she said.
In the Planned Commercial zoning designation, Alcoa technically allows buildings up to 96-feet-high, but no projects have been built to that size.
"We've never utilized that kind of height," Hamby said.