Knoxville planning commission advances shelter site, approves several rezones and development plans; residents press traffic, drainage and buffer concerns

The Knoxville‑Knox County Planning Commission on Oct. 9 approved several rezoning and development requests, denied a handful of higher‑density proposals and added conditions to multiple approvals addressing road widening, drainage and 30‑foot perimeter buffers.

The most consequential decisions were approval of a civic‑institutional land‑use designation and an institutional zone for a proposed CARM women‑and‑children campus on a former industrial site, and commission approval of several residential planned‑residential (PR) rezonings and development plans contingent on engineering conditions. Opponents at multiple hearings raised traffic, drainage and neighborhood‑character concerns; developers and applicants cited market realities, vacant industrial stock and demand for housing or social services.

Votes at a glance - PR, 7 units/acre (William Dale Roten, 1‑acre parcel on Abner Cruickshank Road): denied per staff recommendation after neighbors said seven units on a 1‑acre lot would be out of scale. Motion to deny carried. - PR, up to 6 units/acre (Worley Builders, ~5.5 acres, S. Gallaher View Rd.): approved; condition requires widening the western fork of South Gallaher View Road per Knox County Public Works. Applicant Ron Worley said county engineering will require necessary road work. - OB office/medical (Sasha Cole, 1.42 acres, S. Gallaher View Rd.): approved per staff recommendation. - PR, up to 2 units/acre (Benjamin C. Mullins, Baker Town Rd.): approved per staff recommendation with a 50‑foot buffer condition. - RB general residential (Noe/Noah Sanchez, 1.66 acres, Breakville Rd.): denied; staff cited environmental constraints and a stream bisecting the site. - PR, up to 5 units/acre (DSSD Development LLC, ~9.98 acres,…