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Board of Adjustment approves variance for detached garage at 913 N Kent Street; reappoints chair
Summary
The City of Knoxville Board of Adjustment on June 10 approved a variance allowing a homeowner to build an 813-square-foot detached garage with a covered porch that increases accessory-structure lot coverage to 12.4% (the 10% limit), and reappointed Linda Hicks as chair; the approval included a condition requiring an updated site plan before a building permit is issued.
Knoxville — The City of Knoxville Board of Adjustment on June 10 approved a variance allowing property owner Katherine Hilliard to construct an 813-square-foot detached garage with a covered side porch at 913 N Kent Street that, together with an existing 80-square-foot shed, raises accessory-structure lot coverage to 896 square feet (12.4%), exceeding the 10% limit by 176 square feet.
Planning & Zoning Administrator Nathan Parch summarized the application for the board, saying the structure includes a large roof overhang that creates a covered porch and that the porch area counts toward accessory-structure lot coverage under Zoning Code Section 9-4-4(D). Parch noted the property currently has no garage and that the proposed size is comparable to nearby accessory structures; he cited a rear neighbor at 912 N Harlan Street with 900-square-foot garage plus a 120-square-foot shed (1,020 square feet, about 14.2% of that lot) and reported two signed property-owner notices supporting the variance.
Jennifer Parks, a neighbor at 909 N Kent Street, asked how the new structure would affect existing topography, trees and drainage and how property lines would be determined. Parch responded that locating the south property line would be the responsibility of the applicant and her contractor, Fine Line Construction, and that any proposed changes to building setbacks must be approved by staff; the transcript does not record a technical drainage analysis or further mitigation measures.
Board member Jerry Jones moved to approve the variance with the condition that the applicant provide an updated site plan to staff before a building permit is issued; Tara Gordon seconded. The motion passed on a roll-call vote: Ayes — Tara Gordon, Linda Hicks, Jerry Jones; Nay — Deborah Tupper; Absent — Geoff Wheelock. The approval was limited to the variance described in the application and included the site-plan condition; no additional amendments or enforcement measures were recorded.
At the start of the meeting Chair Linda Hicks was reappointed as chair and Geoff Wheelock was appointed vice chair for calendar year 2026 in a voice vote, and the board also approved the meeting agenda and the minutes of April 15, 2026. The meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m.
Next steps: an updated site plan must be submitted to staff before a building permit will be issued for the project; the record does not specify any permit issuance date or further review timeline.
