Strong debate on use of variance before being granted by FMPC
Following a lengthy discussion, Farragut Municipal Planning Commission voted 7-1 during an FMPC meeting Thursday, Feb. 20, to allow property owner Oleg Zayets a variance so he could build a driveway on his property at 1114 N. Campbell Station Road.
With Vice Mayor Scott Meyer, also an FMPC member, voting against the variance because Zayets had an access, the other Planning Commissioners voted in favor because they deemed Zayets incurred a hardship after he bought the property from Houston Homes to build a duplex for himself and his parents.
“I do believe that there is a hardship here,” Planning Commissioner Noah Myers said. “I think the hardship is that the utilities have been relocated since Knox County required the shared access (with two other homeowners), and I think by pushing the utilities further to the outside of the right-of-way (onto Zayets’s property), that creates the hardship, so we’re not setting a precedent that would allow a variance for the applicant to be able to locate his driveway in, quite frankly, a better location, meaning it would line up with Fretz Road.”
Initially, Planning Commissioner Louise Povlin moved to deny the request but retracted the motion after hearing from Zayets.
The variance involved the property owner’s access request for a lot, which is within the unincorporated part of Knox County along North Campbell Station Road to the north of the intersection with Fretz Road.
With hopes of moving from apartment living to a home for himself, his wife and parents, “when we looked at that property, it was a great property,” he said. “It already had driveway access to it … but the plat map showed we had to share the driveway with the neighbor.
“I went and talked to the neighbor. He said they knew that when we bought the house, (but the sellers) never disclosed that to us,” the applicant said. “When I talked to the neighbors about joining our driveways, they denied it. They said, ‘We don’t want to lose direct access to North Campbell Station Road.’ They feared it’s going to devalue their houses to some extent … they are very stubborn people to talk to.”
Another issue came about when utilities were relocated into his property, in preparation for Knox County’s plans to widen the road and build a turn lane, “making it nearly impossible to connect with the platted joint driveway to the east,” Zayets said.
Although the property is in the county, “it was only discovered recently, through some research associated with the Town’s incorporation and subsequent annexations, that the Town’s boundary extends throughout the width of the entire North Campbell Station Road right-of-way,” Community Development director Mark Shipley said. “This means that access to the Town’s right-of-way must be approved through the Town.”
He explained the access is for a duplex to be built on the vacant lot across from Fretz Road.
“Since North Campbell Station Road is an arterial street, a new access must be at least 400 feet from the nearest existing access,” Shipley said. “The applicant’s proposed access, which is shown on the plan … is only 50 feet from the nearest existing access to the east.
“Prior to the Town’s involvement with access permits on this section of North Campbell Station Road, accesses were approved through Knox County,” he added. “A final plat was recorded through Knox County in 2017 that provided for three house lots that were described as the Campbell Park, Unit 2 Subdivision.
“This plat … provided for two access points along North Campbell Station Road There is also a plat note which states that ‘only two access points to Campbell Station Road is permitted by this plat. Lots 10 and 11 will share a common driveway access.’ Lot 11 is the lot owned by the applicant.”
Additionally, “Knox County is planning to add a southbound turn lane along this section of North Campbell Station Road, and that project is set to begin in the next few months,” Shipley said. “As a result, utilities have been relocated to account for the turn lane.
“This relocation included an electric pole and guy wire that has been moved further away from North Campbell Station Road (and closer to the proposed duplex),” he added. “The applicant has stated that this creates difficulties in tying a cross access to the existing access on Lot 10.”
However, he said Zayets still can “get around it” to use the access.
Still, “it’s a messy situation that we’re kind of coming in at the 11th hour to deal with,” Shipley added. “I feel for the applicant.
“Unfortunately, the two existing accesses along this section of North Campbell Station Road pre-date the Town’s involvement in reviewing accesses. As a result, two existing house lots have separate access onto North Campbell Station Road and do not meet the Town’s distance between driveways requirements.”
To add a third access through this section “would only aggravate an already non-compliant situation,” Shipley warned. “It would also be in violation of the existing recorded plat.
“The staff does not support this,” he concluded.
