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Council hears contested background on 350 Powerhouse Road rezoning; Planning Commission recommended buffer and mixed industrial-reserve split
Summary
City planning staff and council members discussed a rezoning application for the former Department of Energy parcel at 350 Powerhouse Road, where the Planning Commission recommended a split zoning that would place an RG-1 buffer zone along the Clinch River and IND-1 industrial zoning on the remainder, rejecting the property owner’s initial IND-1/IND-2 request.
City planning staff summarized a contentious rezoning application for 350 Powerhouse Road during the March 18 council work session, explaining the property's Department of Energy history, deed-use restrictions and the staff and Planning Commission recommendations.
Jennifer (planning staff) told council the roughly 365-acre parcel transferred from the Department of Energy to the community reuse organization and then to a private owner. The deed includes land-use restrictions that limit uses on the property to those permitted in the city's IND-1, IND-2 and IND-3 industrial districts and commercial/recreational UB-2 uses. Staff said the site is not vacant unconstrained acreage: there are easements, digging-depth restrictions and topographic limitations and there is an adjacent 33-acre DOE-owned fly ash pond parcel and a small cemetery that were not included in the rezoning request.
The current owner (Powerhouse Land LLC / Carbon Rivers) asked to rezone parts of the site to IND-1 and IND-2; staff recommended industrial zoning with a less-intense buffer (IND-1) along the site's western boundary where it borders the Preserve at Clinch River subdivision. At the February Planning Commission meeting, commissioners voted 5–1 to deny the owner's request as submitted and instead recommended a split: IND-1 on the central and eastern portions of the parcel and an RG-1 residential open-space/reserve zone adjacent to the Clinch River (including a 200-yard buffer near the fly ash pond). Planning staff provided contour maps and buffer visualizations to illustrate how the RG-1 buffer and other setbacks lay over the property's topography.
Council members raised questions about the amount of developable acreage given deed and topographic constraints. Mr. Hope asked whether a substantial share of the 365 acres is effectively undevelopable; staff said they could not give a precise acreage figure and that it depends on the specifics of development and the level of site preparation. Chief Solomon and other staff reported outstanding code violations and unresolved building- and safety-related items tied to the present operator; Chief Solomon said the department's follow-up found "around 17" outstanding items and that the hazardous analysis report had just been submitted for review.
Several council members described the decision as precedent-setting, emphasizing that DOE parcel transfers could recur and that rezoning decisions will shape long-term shoreline and riverfront use across the reservation. Mr. Hensley, a Planning Commission member who spoke during the meeting, said the commission selected RG-1 because it is the only existing zone that provides a meaningful conservation-like buffer.
Staff told council the item will be returned to a future city council agenda for formal action; no council vote was taken at the work session. Council members asked staff to supply the Planning Commission minutes, maps, contour analyses, hazard plan and TDEC review materials in advance of the council hearing so members can review the full record.
