I've been working on this with other south knoxvillians. I'm including the email we're sending out asking people to support the appeal. If you want to comment to BZA you might get some good talking points from this. The South Waterfront is a big deal to south Knoxville and I hope you guys will help us with the appeal.

I lost the format for the table but the first # is the required standard for this SW district, the second is what the developer wants, and the third is the % deviation from the required standard.

Friends of the South Waterfront,

We need your help supporting an appeal about a proposed development at 451 W. Blount Avenue, just west of CityView. The Zoning Administrator for the South Waterfront made a decision to treat this project as a Level II rather than as a Level III. We are appealing that decision to BZA.

Level II Development Plan Reviews are intended for projects with no major deviations from the South Waterfront Form Code. They are conducted and approved by City staff. There is no public input. In fact, the public is not informed that these reviews are taking place. For projects that meet code, this is not a problem.

According to the South Waterfront Form Code, a Level III Alternative Compliance Review is intended for development proposals that would “not otherwise be allowed under a strict interpretation of the Form District regulations.” Level III reviews require approval by the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission (formerly MPC). A Level III review is intended to put “more eyes” on the project, including the opportunity for review by the public.

The plan submitted for this development is significantly misaligned with the South Waterfront Vision Plan and deviates from the South Waterfront Form Code in multiple and substantial ways, as shown in the following table.

Area SW4 Standards from 7.3.1.E Deviations Requested Percentage Deviation
Block Size perimeter 1,400 linear ft. max 1,922 37.3% increase
Lot size 3 acres max 5.5 acres 83.3% increase
Front Setback 10 ft max 37.5 ft on northwestern portion 275% increase
Building height 50 ft max 64.5 ft 29% increase
Building footprint 30,000 sq ft max 68,087 sq ft 127% increase
Ground level transparency Minimum of 70% 38.5% for building A, 48% for building B 45% decrease for building A, 31% decrease for building B

Clearly this proposed plan needs a Level III review. Failure to conduct that review violates the Form Code itself. It also sets an undesirable precedent for handling future proposed projects.
The South Waterfront Vision Plan and Form Code were developed in a transparent process with a great deal of community participation. When a proposal deviates this significantly from the Form Code, the community deserves a chance to review and comment. A Level III review provides that opportunity.

Please contact BZA in support of this appeal. Send your comments to Jennifer Scobee - jscobee@knoxvilletn.gov - by no later than Friday, September 16th to be included in the agenda packet. Please reference Agenda Item 9G22VA in your correspondence. ALSO, if possible, please show support by attending the BZA meeting September 20 at 4 p.m. in the Small Assembly Room of the City County Building.

For additional information, you can review the appeal at 9G22VA.pdf (civiclive.com). Scroll to read the narrative page for details on the reasons for appealing this administrative decision.

You can find information about Form Code districts here: (link...)

If you have questions, contact Rachel Craig at 865-919-3476, rlcraig@usit.net, or Janice Tocher at 865-661-1685, jtocher@bellsouth.net.

Thanks so much for your support!

Excellent information from both of you. Thanks for letting us all know about this project. Developers are out of control. And, thus it is possible the local governments are letting this happen?

I'm not sure you can blame the developers when it is a government employee who allows this to happen without input.

Who is the Zoning Administrator for the South Knoxville Waterfront and what is their background?

Maybe I am missing it but I do not see any staff listing of Zoning Administrators. Although not sure where to look.

Knox Planning - Zoning

Appreciate those who posted and are participating in this discussion!

I have filed this appeal because I believe it is SO very important that the hard work of the community from 15+ years ago to create and work through the issues of the South Waterfront Code is honored. One important aspect of the form-based code is the administrative review and what level the project warrants.

As has already been mentioned, the deviances from the code are so extreme, it's difficult to understand how Plans Review and Inspection AND Planning staff who reviewed this development project agreed that this is a Level II review - with no public process.

For some odd reason, the text to view the appeal is not linked. Here's the linked file

I feel certain that if this project had been a Level III review, there are plenty of individuals who would have showed up to voice concerns about requested variances.

For those who are interested, here's a link to the audio of the BZA meeting (Starts at 1h 26m 20s)

I was interested to note their reference to CityView - which also did not follow the code - as setting a precedent. The South Waterfront Code was adopted in Feb 2007 and based on what I could find, CityView was built in 2008. I don’t remember the entire history of the project but I do remember it was started (then stalled, then started again) well before meetings started on the South Waterfront code, so it’s not an ‘apples to apples’ comparison to say that development set a precedent.

NOTE: I got curious about CityView history and found this KnoxNews article from Sept. 2009.

Please do write in support of following the spirit of the South Waterfront Code and come to the meeting if you can.

Please guys, don't jump on the developers. They submitted a plan that was out of code, true. But it's the City's job to review these plans according to procedures in the code, and that didn't happen this time. We are appealing the City's decision.

Also, we have three speakers lined up but have been told that BZA chair will probably let anyone speak who wishes to do so. If you DO decdide to speak, please keep in mind we're appealing the City's decision not to give a project with ginormous deviations from the code a review at MPC, which would also let the public get involved. That's the bottom line.

And please send in your comments. Try to include where you live and why the southwaterfront is important to you.

Give me a yell if you have questions. 919-3476.

Mike Robinson?

Knoxville Plans Review

Of course it is government's issue. However, I get so sick of developers ignoring code. They push and push an whine and whine. So many developers don't care about planning for a good community.

Here's an update on our appeal of the City of Knoxville’s Form Code Administrator to conduct a Level II Development Plan Review rather than a Level III Alternative Compliance Review for proposed development at 451 W. Blount Avenue in the SW4 District of the South Waterfront.

Our appeal was denied by BZA at the October 18th meeting. We have filed to appeal this decision to City Council which will be heard on Tuesday, December 13th.

NOTE: Originally, this appeal was set to be heard on Nov 29th but due to illness, was postponed for 2 weeks. You can find information included in the council information packet stating on page 38.

If you have already sent a letter to BZA, THANK YOU! Your letter is included in the agenda packet for our appeal. If you are in support of this appeal -- supporting the *process* for careful, public review of developments in the South Waterfront -- but have not yet sent a letter, you can send send an email to individual Council members. Here’s a list with contact info.

There’s strength in numbers and we hope you can come to the meeting in person to show support on December 13th, 6:00 p.m. We expect this will be heard early in the meeting, so you won’t have to sit through the entire meeting. If you need a ride or are interested in carpooling, please send an email to janice@averra.com.

Our desired outcome is to have this development go through the appropriate process and be heard by Planning Commission - which allows for a much more public process and evaluation of the entire development, not just requested deviations from the code.

Thanks for posting. This plethora of requested deviations from the South Waterfront code is against the spirit and intention of the code which was carefully crafted but is getting whittled down with every new development. Lets keep South Knoxville an urban wilderness with careful planning and developments that fit into existing neighborhoods instead of standing out like a sore thumb.