Farmland near Royal Oaks could join city limits, commercially develop

Owners of farmland between W. Broadway Avenue and the Royal Oaks subdivision asked the city of Maryville to bring 94.5 acres inside city limits and allow commercial development.

Maryville Planning Commission postponed voting on the request Tuesday, Jan. 17, in its monthly meeting.

During a planning commission work session the week prior, land owners said they don’t have any buyers lined up for the property. Annexation and rezoning is a first step to getting it sold for its value in the future.

Now located on the property — currently split into multiple lots — are two homes and agricultural buildings owned in majority by the Robertson family. The front of one of the properties is already inside Maryville city limits. Two properties are part of a residential subdivision, and if annexed into the city will remain residential properties.

A 56-acre portion — the largest lot included in the request — doesn’t touch West Broadway. However, a potential extension of Robert C. Jackson Drive would run along one side of the large lot. Unless two-thirds of Royal Oaks residents vote in favor, connections can’t be made to the neighborhood’s private streets.

Deputy Development Services Director Jordan Clark said a southern extension of Robert C. Jackson Drive toward W. Broadway is in the works. An alignment hasn’t been agreed to yet.

Brookfield Renewable Power Inc. owns and uses land needed for the extension. Until the city knows if Brookfield will be on board and the extension is likely, planning commissioners chose to wait on considering the annexation. Not all commissioners were in attendance either.

Commercial concerns

Royal Oaks residents, however, filled most seating in the commission chamber. Although the planning commission postponed voting, commissioners encouraged residents from the crowd to speak.

Representing the community at large, Royal Oaks Property Owners Association Vice President Carl Frizzell reiterated sentiments he had voiced in the former work session. Frizzell said the community is concerned about being surrounded by commercial development on all sides and the broad number of uses allowed by the commercial zoning of business and transportation.

At the work session, he added it’s unusual that commercial properties are 85 acres deep, off a main roadway. Two long property lines of the annexation request would also be touching back yards of Royal Oaks properties.

“Very concerned about Royal Oaks becoming a sea, an island of residential surrounded by business and transportation on all sides,” Frizzell said Tuesday.

He suggested requiring a 300-feet buffer — the length of a football field — with office space between the neighborhood and potential commercial property. Land owners of the 94.5 acres had agreed to a 100-feet buffer as of Tuesday.

Commercial development in the area and inside city limits follows along West Broadway, which Royal Oaks is located directly off. Outside city limits, neighboring county property is zoned for residential development.

From the city’s perspective, encouraging more intensive development along major roadways keeps city resources from sprawling.

Councilman Fred Metz said during the former work session the Blount County Commission, if approached with a development request from the same property owners, could zone the property commercial. The city of Maryville has more development standards when processing design plans, Metz added.

Late last year, a new ALDIs next to the Legends Way entrance of Royal Oaks off West Broadway became public information. ROPOA has held several meetings discussing the possibility. Most residents in attendance of those meeting were not in favor of the discount grocery store opening within walking distance from their homes.

Like with ALDIs, Frizzell said residents’ issues with the farmland annexation was obstruction of views from their homes, taking away the country-like setting and putting more strain on their private roadways.

Resident Susie Caldwell added that she moved to Maryville from an area around Kingston Pike in Knoxville to escape the development. Broadway Avenue, Caldwell said, reminds her of Kingston Pike. Allowing an annexation like the one requested could set a precedent for future growth, she added.

A member of the Robertson family was the last from the crowd to address the planning commission Tuesday. He recited a history of farming, sorting cattle and living in Blount County when the populations was 10,000.

“The place I grew up is no longer,” Robertson said, later adding, “Maryville is going to grow, whether I like it. It’s already grown far beyond me.”

Before the meeting adjourned, planning commissioner Steve Greene asked everyone in attendance to consider both sides and compromise. Residents of Royal Oaks don’t want commercial property close to their homes, but the Robertson family has a large piece of property no longer viable to farm. Annexation and rezoning allows the Robertson family to get the best value for land that has been owned by the family for 70 years.