Design Review Board approves revised infill house at 1102 Raleigh Avenue with conditions

The Downtown Design Review Board on Jan. 15 approved a certificate of appropriateness for a revised two-story infill house at 1102 Raleigh Avenue, subject to conditions including alley access for parking, a walkway to the sidewalk, a front and rear tree, and design revisions to a rear roof dormer and window alignment.

Lindsay Illinois, Knoxville Knox County Planning, told the board the application was a revised submission from November intended to better match neighborhood scale: the proposed house is 27 feet wide and 60 feet deep, features an 8-foot-deep front porch, horizontal lap siding and a brick-veneer foundation, and would peak at about 28 feet 8 inches. Illinois noted the zoning code in the infill housing overlay requires alley access for new houses when an alley exists and recommended that final site plans be revised so parking is accessed from the alley, include a walkway to the sidewalk, meet city engineering standards, and provide a tree in both front and rear yards.

The applicant, Dawn Bridal, co-owner of the lot with Bate Development, said the original plan showed a rear garage accessed from the alley and that a surveyor had mistakenly drawn a side driveway on the revised site plan. "We can easily make that adjustment on the site plan for the rear drive and take that off the site plan and add the front sidewalk," Bridal said. She asked the board to approve the application so permitting could proceed and said the listed site-plan changes could be submitted during permit review.

Board members raised design issues for the prominent corner lot. Cameron Bullen, AIA representative, criticized the side elevations' window placement as "a bit haphazard" and urged greater vertical alignment and compositional rigor; he recommended adding a break in the long rear roof slope. Perry Childress, Community Design Center, made similar comments about a rear dormer and recommended brick masonry extend to ground with vents rather than the painted lattice depicted under the porch. Several members said the house's height was consistent with some two-story precedents on the street and that window alignment could be finalized during framing or permit-stage revisions.

Perry Childress moved to approve based on staff recommendation, adding a rear dormer, details on porch underpinning and porch stairs, and an adjustment to window alignment on the street-facing elevation to be approved by staff; Cameron Bullen seconded. The motion carried.

Illinois reminded the applicant that final drawings submitted to permitting must reflect the board’s conditions and that there is a 14-day appeal period after the board’s approval before the permit is final.