Policy Plan revisions debated by commission

By Joel Davis
of The Daily Times Staff

The Blount County Planning Commission continued revising the county’s 1999 Policies Plan on Tuesday, debating topics ranging from where commercial development should be allowed on U.S. 411 to the future of sewer service outside the cities of Maryville and Alcoa.

The Planning Commission seemed to reach a consensus on language suggested by the Hunter Interests Growth Study to recommend clustering of commercial sites on U.S. 411 by zoning at key intersections and existing areas of commercial development.

County Commissioner Scott Helton didn’t want the language to just include key intersections.

“I just didn’t want us to be handcuffed down there,” Helton said.

The proposal had generated discussion about what direction was wanted for the development of U.S. 411 South.

“We have a desire not to have a strip mall all the way down the road to the county line,” Planning Commissioner Rick Brownlie said.

“You don’t have to choose that,” Planning Department Director John Lamb said. “You can choose other ways.”

Currently, Rural-Arterial-Commercial zones are allowed along county arterial roads, such as Lamar Alexander Parkway (U.S. 321) 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.

“The whole sense of this is to give us tools for each situation,” said Blount County Commission Chairman Robert Ramsey, who sits on the Planning Commission, during a technical discussion about preventing compacting or disturbing soils around detention ponds.

“We have not been very good in protection the retention ponds,” Lamb said.

The Planning Commission also discussed language to recommend a task force to study the possibility of a countywide sewer system or of the cities extending sewer outside of their boundaries.

“It’s needed,” Helton said. “I don’t know if we’re going to get there.”

“This is a 20-year time frame (in the Policies Plan),” Lamb said. “It’s not like we have to do it all next year.”