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Article published Mar 26, 2008 Planners may fight U.S. 411 strip development
By Joel Davis of The Daily Times Staff
The Blount County Planning Commission might end up taking a stand against the continuing strip commercialization of U.S. 411 South if a statement added to the draft county Policies Plan is ultimately approved.
County regulations support the commercialization of U.S. 411 South all the way to the Loudon County line, if rezoning continues at the current pace. On Tuesday, the members of the Planning Commission present at a called meeting reached a consensus to include a statement of principle to "concentrate commercial zoning at key intersections and designated nodes (of existing commercial development)" in the text of the Policies Plan.
The principle is a recommendation from the Hunter Interests Growth Study. County Commission Chairman Robert Ramsey expressed surprise that it wasn't being enforced.
"I thought that was one of our major instruments of regulating development," Ramsey said.
"Those are words on paper," Planning Director John Lamb said. "Nobody is following it. ... The Planning Commission has been recommending (the rezonings) and the County Commission has been approving them."
Ramsey advocated taking a stand against the status quo.
"We're kind of the conscience of the County Commission," he said. "The day we regulate our views and focus according to the commission, it seems like a failure."
"It takes a real concentrated effort to stem the tide of commercial use down a major highway," Lamb said. "I've never worked in a place that held the line. If you want to make a statement to 'hold the line,' go for it."
County Commissioner Tonya Burchfield, who also sits on the Planning Commission, expressed concern about the statement, asking if it would cause increased pressure for developing along U.S. 321 (Lamar Alexander Parkway).
"I don't want it going to the mountains," Burchfield said. "I want (the U.S. 321 corridor) as beautiful as it is now."
The Planning Commission could treat U.S. 321 different than U.S. 411 but would have to establish specific reasons why to do so, Lamb said.
Currently, Rural-Arterial-Commercial zones are allowed along county arterial roads, such as Lamar Alexander Parkway and U.S. 411, beyond the growth boundaries of Alcoa and Maryville. The regular county Commercial Districts normally end outside these boundaries. The RAC can go the length of those arterial roads. County zoning regulations only allow the RAC designation to extend 500 feet from the road frontage.
The RAC zoning is approved on a case-by-case basis by the Planning Commission. Once the Policies Plan is revised, it would be up to the County Commission to ultimately put any regulations into effect.
RAC rezoning requests have been a regular feature of Planning Commission meetings during the past year.
"I've got a feeling that a lot of the people are not really happy with what's been done on 411," Planning Commissioner Bill Proffitt said.