‘EZ does it,’ 8-4, to build in Concord
Compromise to 4 pumps, check for unmarked graves; Zoning Appeals is last hurdle
KNOXVILLE — “EZ does it,” by a vote of 8-4 (two absent, one recusing), as Knoxville/Knox County Planning Commission voted to accept EZ Stop’s plans for a roughly 7,000-square foot convenience store-restaurant along Concord Road adjacent to 2nd Drive and bordering the Concord Historic District — subject to 14 provisions being met, which include a few changes, during the Thursday afternoon, July 11 meeting
Roughly 20 citizens were on hand in the City/County Building’s Main Assembly Room downtown expressing opposition to EZ Stop’s plans — cheering whenever a commissioner or an official spoke critically of the plans — with at least one resident occasionally holding up an anti-EZ Stop plans sign.
However, “Approval of the requested fuel station, restaurant and drive-through facility uses, subject to all conditions listed in the Staff Report to ensure the proposed use, is consistent with development standards for uses permitted on review,” a KCC Planning press release stated.
The modified changes for the roughly 4.7-acre property, which is zoned Commercial Neighborhood, had three revisions among its 15 conditions: “Condition No. 6 shall be removed (which stated: “The exit onto Second Drive shall be restricted to right turns only using a curbed island”); condition No. 10 stated the requirements “shall be modified to reflect the drive-through facility shall be closed between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. (it was 6 a.m.); this does not otherwise apply to the proposed restaurant’s operating hours.”
An additional condition (No. 15) “shall be added to require a preliminary archaeological survey, which could include ground-penetrating radar, review of relevant archives, and other physical investigation prior to disturbance” to check for unmarked graves, given this location borders a graveyard to its east.
The next, and perhaps final step toward breaking ground, is if the EZ opponents and their legal team appeal this Planning Commission decision and “file an appeal to the Knox County Board of Zoning Appeals within 30 days of the date of the Planning Commission meeting,” the KKCP release stated. “The developer may apply for permits with the County 30 days after the date of the date of the Planning Commission meeting (if) no appeal has been filed. If an appeal is filed, no permits will be issued until after the BZA has made a decision.”
The other conditions placed upon EZ Stop by KKC Planning staff also included No. 2: “There shall be no more than four gas pumps (dispensers) with no more than two points of sale per gas pump,” which was reduced from the original plan to have seven pumps and 14 points of sale.
Among the comments and recommendations from Mike Roberts, KKC Planning principal planner representing staff and its recommendations, was that EZ Stop’s staff-recommended reduction from seven to four pumps was done to reflect more of a “neighborhood” convenience store.
Other conditions included:
3) Before grading permits are issued, a revised landscape plan must be submitted to and approved by Planning staff and tree protection fencing must be installed as proposed on the landscape plan. The revised landscape plan must include the following:
(a) Additional evergreen trees along the eastern portion of the 2nd Drive frontage to screen the business and site lighting from the residential uses on the south side of 2nd Drive.
(b) The healthy, mature trees to be retained along the east property line must be located and labeled on the landscape plan, including their size ... and species.
(c) A landscape architect must provide written documentation explaining how the existing trees and new vegetation meet the intent of the CN zone’s landscape screening requirement.
5) The widening of 2nd Drive east of the driveway shall be tapered to the existing condition as close to the proposed driveway as possible, with review and approval by Knox County Engineering and Public Works during permitting.
8) Installing a sidewalk on 2nd Drive and the on-site sidewalks to the business entrances from the 2nd Drive and Concord Road sidewalks.
9) All site lighting that is pole- or building-mounted shall have a maximum height of 15 feet from the finished grade, excluding the lighting installed on the underside of the gas pump canopy. All light fixtures shall be full cut-off and installed with the light source perpendicular to the support structure or otherwise parallel to the ground if mounted to underside of a roof or canopy.
11) The drive-through outdoor speaker(s) shall meet the following operational standards to include: (a) Specified to have a sound output of 75 (seventy-five) decibels.
While the property’s Neighborhood Commercial zoning required a maximum of 5,000 square feet for any business, EZ Stop attorney Ben Mullins said the firewall separating the convenience store and restaurant made them separate businesses, and therefore within the 5,000 limit.
