Zoning request postponed
Following the monthly Town of Farragut Staff/Developer meeting in Town Hall Thursday, Oct. 1, John Baker of Horne Properties has decided to postpone, by at least one month, a rezoning request for 32.7 acres behind the old Ingles shopping center.
Instead, he is supporting a workshop and discussions to perhaps amend the Town’s zoning ordinance, which is set to be discussed during the Oct. 17 Farragut Municipal Planning Commission meeting.
The matter has the potential of ultimately offering a Medium-Density Multi-Family zoning district, which the Town’s zoning does not currently provide.
Baker said if the designation is recommend and ultimately approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, “It would be a better fit for what we want to do there.”
In September, a rezoning request for the property — from R-1 (Rural Single Family), R-2 and B-1 (Buffer) to R-6 (Multi-Family Residential) and R-4 (Attached Single-Family Residential) — was a workshop and discussion item only for the FMPC.
The property, which is owned by Doug Horne, who also owns Republic Newspapers Inc., parent company of farragutpress, is being considered for Medium Density Multi-Family use by Wisconsin firm Continental Properties, but that company wants the property rezoned before taking possession of it.
The Town’s current R-6 allows up to 12 units per acre, but the spec plans Baker has shared indicate Continental Properties would be no higher than eight units per acre and offered to make that statement part of the zoning request.
The current Town of Farragut land use plan allows for medium density, which is 6-to-12 dwelling units per acre at this location.
Even so, staff members questioned if Continental or any entity could be bound by an agreement that was not spelled out within the zoning ordinances.
“It becomes kind of a legal question, if the zoning request could be conditional,” Community Development director Mark Shipley said during the Staff/Developer meeting.
If the FMPC does decide to create the new zoning designation, it would have to be approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.
