The Knoxville Knox County Planning Commission on Aug. 14 recommended denial of a rezoning request to change a 3.9-acre property at Millertown and Washington Pike from RN4 to RN5, reaffirming the commission’s earlier preference for RN4 zoning and special-use review for higher-density projects at that site. The motion to deny came after public testimony from the applicant, Victor (Garrett) Jernigan, who said RN5 was sought because RN4’s subdivision and road-engineering requirements for parcels larger than an acre make early-stage permitting prohibitively expensive.

Jernigan said his team designed an 80-unit plan of four 20-unit buildings targeted at one- and two-bedroom apartments that would fit the parcel’s transit and employment context; he offered deed restrictions limiting height to two stories and capping total units at 80. Christina McGraw of the City Law Department told the commission that Tennessee law and local practice prevent the commission from imposing deed-like conditions as part of a straight rezoning and that RN4 remains a tool that requires a special-use permit and concept review.

Several commissioners said RN4 had been recommended previously and that the RN4 path provides the commission and the public stronger review of site access, roadwork and neighborhood compatibility. Commissioner Nick Gill called the RN4 route ‘‘the appropriate process’’ because it requires the developer to return with project details (and allows the commission to evaluate street and traffic impacts). Commissioner Gill and others cited the intersection and a new internal road the applicant proposed, noting concerns about requiring detailed road and grading plans before special-use approval. The commission voted to deny the RN5 request; a motion and vote were recorded, and the denial carries to the County Commission where final legislative action occurs.

Jernigan said he would continue to work on a concept that conforms with RN4 or pursue the special-use process, and he said he could place deed restrictions on the property privately though the commission cannot require them as part of a zoning map amendment. The commission’s recommendation against RN5 leaves the path open for the applicant to return for RN4-based special-use approvals or other applications that can show how the project will meet engineering and neighborhood compatibility requirements.