Growth Plan Background and Analysis

Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan Approval Process

Summary

Knox County has proposed an amendment to the 2001 Growth Plan (official page with amendments, committee and meeting info). Key things to know:

The Growth Plan has a map that depicts a Planned Growth Area, and a Rural Area, for Knox County. (interactive map here)
There are policies applied to the Rural Area that limit the types of land uses, zonings, and development allowed in it, with the goal of preserving land for open space and agriculture.
The Planned Growth Area is where the county expects to expand into over the next 20 years
The amendments are based on recommendations from the Advance Knox process, which was a data-driven process to create a new general Knox County Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan. That plan, which applies only to Knox County, is a separate document (drafts here) and replaces the 2003 Knoxville-Knox County General Plan 2033 and all of the Sector Plans.
The new Comprehensive Land Use Plan introduces “Placetypes” that replace the Sector Plan designations. Examples are ‘Rural Conservation’ and ‘Suburban Mixed Residential’. The draft Future Land Use Map shows where the Placetypes are applied. (Note: A request was made to the project staff for a better copy of the map, but that has not been released at this time).

Analysis - Why Should You Care?

We want updates to be made to the existing Growth Plan and the General Plan. The current policies and process have resulted in low density sprawl that has consumed a lot of farmland and open space. The Advance Knox process used a lot of data, public input, and professional expertise to create updates to the Growth Plan and a brand-new Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan (draft comprehensive land use plan, draft appendices.

We do have concerns with the proposed Growth Plan amendment, and all of us have the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions now. During the Advance Knox process, themes of maintaining the rural character and natural areas were strongly expressed. An Advance Knox poll by East Tennessee Realtors asked about resident’s top priorities for local government, and “protecting open space like fields, forests and farmland from development” was statistically tied for the top place with “increasing the amount of housing that is affordable for families.” We must balance

First, the new proposed Planned Growth Area started out by keeping all prior land in the Planned Growth Area, and didn’t retract any of the prior boundaries. We know that some of the old Planned Growth Area covers some of the county’s best remaining soil, such as along the Holston River north of Asheville Highway. If we want to continue to have agriculture in Knox County, we need to conserve prime farmland. Unfortunately, soil characteristics were not included as a Suitability Factor when modeling was conducted to determine the best places for development.

Soil Map of land north of Asheville Highway and along the Holston River. Almost all of this is in the Planned Growth Area

Second - a number of Knox County’s Century Farms are located within the Planned Growth Area. Gregory Farms, Green Acres Farm, Murphy Spring Farm, Ragle Family Farm, and Yarnell Family Farms are located within the proposed Planned Growth Area. Tennessee Century Farms are jewels of historic and landscape preservation, and Knox County proposes that these should be located within the Planned Growth Area. Several other important farms are not officially recognized as Century Farms, but are located in the Planned Growth Area; in particular the Strong Stock Farm, Knox County’s largest farm.

Third - the two largest areas of expansion - Washington Pike and Hardin Valley - are in valleys with limited transportation connections. They also do not have substantial employment centers, meaning that most residents must commute out of those areas to employment, requiring substantial transportation investment. The Land Use and Transportation Plan identifies several capital projects for the Hardin Valley area, but doesn’t identify any for the Washington Pike / Ritta / Maloneyville areas.

Fourth - by opening up large areas of undeveloped land, particularly out Washington Pike and Hardin Valley, it entices development to continue sprawling farther away from our core infrastructure and resources. This type of development is the least fiscally-sustainable development, but not

Finally, if property is in the Planned Growth Area, it is possible for any type of development to be approved, based on the proposed planning framework.

The Growth Plan policies for the Planned Growth Area permit all of the Comprehensive Plan’s Placetypes to be used in the Future Land Use Map.. The Rural Area policies limit the Placetypes to 3 rural ones (Rural Living, Rural Conservation, Rural Crossroads Commercial). All Placetypes are allowed in the Planned Growth Area.
The draft Land Use Plan Map depicts which Placetypes should be located where, but it does not specify written criteria for where particular Placetypes are appropriate - criteria that would guide future professional and legislative bodies.
The draft Future Land Use Plan Map is just that - a draft - and there is no guarantee it will be adopted as-is. Areas that are currently depicted as “Rural Conservation” could be finalized as “Suburban Residential” by the time the General Plan land use map is adopted.
The Comprehensive Plan’s criteria for a plan update are the same criteria we have had in place for amending Sector Plans. Our experience is that these criteria are broad and wide, and many applicants are able to craft a justification for amending it.
Amending the Future Land Use Plan map requires going through Planning Commission, which makes a recommendation on the change, and then sends it to County Commission
Ultimately, amending the Future Land Use Plan ultimately comes down to needing a majority vote of the County Commission. The Growth Plan can impose criteria on County Commission that it must abide by, but since there are no criteria in the Planned Growth Area, future County Commissions may amend the map by a majority vote.

Recommended Action for Neighborhood and Community Groups

Review the proposed Growth Plan map to see what is changing in your area.
Formulate a position statement, lists of concerns, and/or suggestions for changes.
Submit those changes as Comments through either the web page comments form or emailing gpp@advanceknox.org
Sign up to speak at the upcoming Growth Plan Public Forum on Monday, Nov 27th, 5PM. You may sign up by emailing gpp@advanceknox.org, or there will be a sign-up sheet at the meeting.
If you have relationships with any members of the Growth Plan Coordinating Committee, reach out to them and request to meet with them

Plan Approval Process

There are two plans being submitted, with two different approval processes.

The Growth Plan is the top-level plan, which established broad policies and boundaries for growth and development. It is an agreement among 3 parties - Knox County, City of Knoxville, and Town of Farragut. State law 6-58 has a specific procedure for amending and adopting the plan.
The Knox County Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan (currently known as the “General Plan”), will apply only to Knox County. It has policies, principals, and concepts that guide future development. It first goes to the Planning Commission, and then to the County Commission.

In order for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan to be adopted, an update to the Growth Plan is required. The amendments to the Growth Plan are informed by, and enable, the new Comprehensive Land Use Plan.

Advance Knox gathered and analyzed data, and conducted public input and feedback, to draft a Future Land Use Map for Knox County and a draft plan. That information then informed the county’s proposed amendments to the Knox County Growth Plan. The Growth Plan amendments are needed because the 2002 Growth Plan has restrictions and maps that conflict with the new Comprehensive Land Use Plan. And, that Growth Plan is 20 years old, which is the end of the time horizon used to create it.

Growth Plan Process

The amendment first goes to the Growth Plan Policy Committee. It was introduced at an initial meeting on October 24th.

State law requires two public hearings, the first of which is Monday, Nov 27th and the second is scheduled for Tues, Dec 19th.

After the 2nd public hearing, the committee may recommend it to go forward with the amendment, in which case it must be approved by the 3 legislative bodies - Knox County Commission, Knoxville City Council, and the Town of Farragut Board of Alderman.

Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan Approval Process

The Knox County Comprehensive Land Use and Transportation Plan will be submitted at a later date to the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission. Planning Commission will review it and provide a recommendation to the County Commission, and then the Knox County Commission will consider the plan and take appropriate legislative action.

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