Knox County's growth plan clears another hurdle as planning commission approves key map

Silas Sloan, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read

Knox County's new 20-year growth plan needs two more rounds of voting before it can become a reality.

The Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Future Land Use Map by a 14-0 vote at its March 7 meeting.

Commissioner Miles Biggs was not at the meeting.

This was the first vote for the Future Land Use Map, which specifies which development types - like town centers, commercial space, residential subdivisions and more - can be built on certain tracts of land.

The commission made minor language edits to the plan, mostly reducing the number of requirements for someone to get a plan amendment for an individual parcel.

The map portion of Advance Knox now moves on to the Knox County Commission for its final approval. If denied by the county, the entire Advance Knox initiative is dead.

During its Feb. 26 meeting, the county commission made the Growth Policy Plan - the other half of the Advance Knox plan - contingent on the approval of the land use map.

The Comprehensive Land Use Plan and the Future Land Use Map outline new areas where the county can be developed and which areas will remain rural. They also include language changes to development codes, most notably reducing the allowable amount of homes per acre in rural areas from three to two.

The future land use map is similar to the preferred scenario, but is more specific about where certain types of development should go.
The future land use map is similar to the preferred scenario, but is more specific about where certain types of development should go.

What's next for Advance Knox?

The Future Land Use Map will be voted on by the County Commission on March 25 at 5 p.m. in the City County Building.

A few days later, the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen will vote on the plan at 6 p.m. on March 28 at the Farragut Community Center. That will be the final vote in the whole process.

If everything is approved, both maps will take effect on May 1.

At the Feb. 26 county commission meeting, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs told commissioners the Growth Policy Plan wouldn't be reworked by the Growth Policy Committee if it's voted down.

Silas Sloan is the growth and development reporter. Email silas.sloan@knoxnews.com. Twitter @silasloan. Instagram @knox.growth.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County future land use map gets approved by planning commission