Council approves land-use change, rezoning for Lafayette Drive/South Illinois Avenue site despite neighborhood traffic concerns

Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved on first reading a pair of items to change nine parcels at the corner of Lafayette Drive and South Illinois Avenue from residential to general business with a planned-unit-development (PUD) overlay. The vote clears a necessary step so the applicant can pursue a master-plan-designed small shopping area, but residents and several council members raised repeated concerns about traffic, driveway access and potential cut-throughs into adjacent Woodland neighborhood streets.

City planner Wayne Blasius told council the request included a comprehensive-plan land-use amendment from residential to business and a rezoning from R-1C (single-family residential) with Manhattan District overlay to UB-2 with a PUD overlay. “The PUD allows certain flexibility within the zoning ordinance for things that are specific to this project and property. Their use is basically a small shopping area,” he said. The Planning Commission had recommended approval with conditions addressing access, screening and sidewalks.

Residents and council members urged more study of traffic impacts. Acting City Engineer Brian Mills described how a traffic-impact study typically analyzes trip generation and intersection performance and can recommend intersection improvements; he said the city had not required a traffic study at this stage but staff had discussed options with the developer. Mills said engineering and the applicant were exploring alternatives including deceleration and acceleration lanes and modifications to right-in/right-out accesses.

Councilwoman Robin Smith (council member Smith) recounted an earlier Illinois Avenue corridor study that recommended limiting this portion of the site to residential or light-office uses with restricted access. She said the intersection of South Illinois, Lafayette Drive and Woodland Terrace is complex and already carries significant traffic: “This is one of the few places in town where we’ve actually done a fairly serious evaluation of the plan for that location… I have concern about adding that kind of impact.”

Developer counsel Rick Chen said the project team had met with TDOT, adjusted plans to meet state criteria and that the access approved in 1983 provided a legal basis for access at the corner lot. Chen added the project team will work with city staff and TDOT to modify the design if state or city engineers require changes: “If TDOT doesn't approve the write in write out on Illinois Avenue, that write in write out will not happen.”

Neighbors said they feared customers and delivery vehicles would use Woodland Terrace and Paris Lane as cut-throughs. Joy Henderson, who lives on Paris Lane, said the development would remove multiple houses and bring additional parking and traffic onto a small street: “We have a housing shortage, not a business shortage,” she told council.

Outcome: Council voted to approve the comprehensive-plan amendment and the UB-2 PUD rezoning on first reading. Planning-commission conditions remain part of the preliminary master plan; council and staff said a traffic study or additional engineering work may be required during the design phase, and the developer said it would work with TDOT and city staff on access details.

Why this matters: The approvals allow a commercial development at a busy intersection and trigger later design and permitting steps that will determine whether traffic controls or access changes are added to protect nearby residential streets.

Ending: Council members said they wanted to see firm engineering and TDOT approvals before final reading and asked staff to press for design-level traffic work during the permitting stage.