Staff recommends denial of neighborhood-commercial rezoning near Veterans Cemetery; site not at neighborhood edge or intersection

Planning staff recommended denial of a rezoning request to convert 4.39 acres on the west side of Governor John Sevier Highway south of the Veterans Cemetery from agricultural to neighborhood commercial (CN).

The staff presenter said the site abuts Knox-Chapman Utility District property and large-lot single-family homes; the area is primarily agricultural and forested tracts with scattered residential developments. Although the site fronts an arterial with a 50 mph limit, staff said CN zoning is intended for locations at street intersections or at the edge of neighborhoods where enough residential density exists to support neighborhood commercial services. The presenter said the parcel is not at an intersection or neighborhood edge and the surrounding residential development is not of sufficient size to support CN.

A commissioner asked about an apparent office or warehouse on the adjacent utility parcel; staff said the utility parcel is zoned agricultural. The presenter noted the place type for the area is rural conservation and that neighborhood commercial was the only commercial zoning allowed by the applicant's request; staff concluded the CN request was inconsistent with the intent and location criteria for the CN zone. No formal vote was recorded in the transcript.