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Alcoa Planner Chris Hamby is expected to recommend site plan approval for ALDI, a discount grocery, at today's Alcoa Planning Commission meeting.

Hamby held a briefing for planning commissioners Wednesday.

ALDI wants to purchase the old 911 Center property at the intersection of the U.S. 129 Bypass and Louisville Road beside Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church. The company wants to erect a 16,590-square-foot building there.

Andrew Sonner, Alcoa city engineer and assistant director of public works, said ALDI will have to prove to him that their tractor trailers can make the turn into the property and that the frontage road can handle the heavy loads.

ALDI must negotiate with the church to purchase additional property to increase the turning radius so that it will accommodate the big trucks.

Unless these and other concerns are satisfied, the adjoining Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church opposes rezoning the property to allow ALDI to locate there. The sale of the 2.06-acre parcel to ALDI is contingent on the rezoning, which will be considered on second and final reading July 14 by Alcoa City Commission.

If ALDI does not have everything approved by the city engineering department, Hamby said action on the rezoning request will likely be deferred.

Another concern of the church is timing of truck traffic. Hamby said she thinks ALDI will limit truck traffic to midnight to 6 a.m.

Other concerns are timing of the traffic signal and emergency vehicle access and circulation. The design shows the trucks will have to back up to the loading dock.

"Everyone is going to have to understand that entrance is not going to be perfect," Sonner said. "If 18-wheelers can make that move it will take the entire intersection."

"That's a difficult piece of property to adequately use," said Alcoa Planning Commission Chairman Bill Proffitt.

Pellissippi Place

Also at the workshop, Hamby said an Old Knoxville Highway Design District needs to be established to take in the new corridor into the area of town where Pellissippi Parkway enters Old Knoxville Highway at Pellissippi Place Research and Development Park.

The multi-use park, which is expected to include commercial research and development businesses, retail and housing, is being developed on the former Luke Jackson Farm beside Jackson Hills Subdivision.

Currently the corridor is zoned Commercial, Interstate Commercial and Limited Restriction I. "It all needs to be put in a Commercial zone with design guidelines," Hamby said.

Sidewalks in the park will tie in with the city Greenway Park system.

On the other side of the road where Pellissippi enters Old Knoxville Highway, there will be a small pocket park on the west side. Weigel's owns the property adjoining the park. Weigel's plans to build a convenience store on the two-acre tract once traffic reaches a certain level.

Hamby said landscaping will be critical for this property. She will suggest the fuel canopy be located in back of the store and one line of parking be in front of the store. The lot is 236 feet deep.