Allow 2nd dwelling unit on existing residential lot? FMPC debates
Whether or not to permit a second dwelling unit on an existing residential lot drew an hour-long debate among Farragut Municipal Planning Commission members during their meeting Thursday, Aug. 15.
Currently, the Town ordinance does not allow a second dwelling unit. However, resident Tyler Butler, who applied for the change, asked a second dwelling be allowed on his property, which is greater than 1.5 acres in the Rural Single-Family Residential (R-1) District.
The bone of contention for FMPC members was that having a second dwelling on a piece of property is similar to past debates about accessory dwelling units. “Maybe, five or 10 years ago, we had some discussion on accessory dwelling units,” FMPC member Noah Myers recalled. “To me, that’s what’s kind of being described by the applicant’s proposal is an ADU.
“I don’t think the Planning Commission was comfortable with a lot of widespread ADUs,” he added. “We were worried about conflicts in neighborhoods and so forth.”
While Myers pointed out a lot of subdivisions with lots over 5 acres have covenants and restrictions that govern ADUs, and “in perpetuity, there’s nothing we can do to change those covenants and restrictions,” he said, recalling support of some limited ADUs.
Additionally, “I like the direction of the applicant’s request,” Myers added. “But (the issue) was so complicated.” Vice Mayor Louise Povlin recalled those discussions over ADUs went on for several months.
“We finally threw our hands up,” she said.
“As discussed at the July 2 Staff/Developer meeting, the applicant has an existing lot off Fretz Road that pre-dates the Town’s subdivision regulations,” assistant Community Development director Bart Hose said. “The lot does not have direct frontage on an existing public street.
“There is an existing home on the lot that is accessed through a private access easement that also provides access to one other lot,” he added.
“The applicant initially discussed trying to subdivide the lot, but given its configuration and the presence and proximity of dwelling units on the lots that abut the applicant’s property, there was no way to do this in compliance with the subdivision regulations. The applicant has a parent who lives on the existing property and would like to construct a home on the property to help with the parent as a means of aging in place.”
However, he observed at some point in time, the property could be sold at a later date and a person could buy it as an investment property and rent the dwelling. Hose warned FMPC needs to be aware of what that could open up in the future.
“The staff noted since subdividing would not be possible in this case, the language in the zoning ordinance could be re-visited in this regard to see if there is interest in providing for this,” he said. “As with any request for a text amendment, the staff must assess the impact of the change throughout the Town.
“There are currently roughly 150 lots in Town that are zoned R-1 and exceed 1.5 acres,” Hose added. “Fifteen of these lots are either open space, owned by homeowner’s associations or churches.
“During discussion at the Staff/Developer meeting, the staff noted the main initial question before moving forward with this would be whether the Commission, and ultimately the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, would be open to providing for a second dwelling unit on a lot exceeding 1.5 acres in the R-1 Zoning District. If this is not something that is desired, then this request would not likely need to proceed.
If there is an openness to allowing the second dwelling unit, “what would be some of the requirements that could be added to prevent envisioned issues?” Hose asked. “Some of these could be similar to the Agricultural Zoning District, which was amended in 2021 to provide for a second single-family detached dwelling.”
Finally, FMPC asked staff to come up with language that could allow a second dwelling in a restricted fashion.
In other matters ...
On another matter, FMPC voted to recommend approval of resident Wil Glafenhein’s request to rezone a portion of his 8.64-acre property at 12715 Union Road from Single-Family Residential (R-2) to Rural Single-Family Residential (R-1).
This rezoning, which must go to Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen for approval, would allow Glafenhein to raise chickens on the property. Glafenhein originally sought Agriculture rezoning for the property, but Planning Commissioners agreed R-1 was a better fit.
