Alcoa : Middlesettlements apartments get site plan approval, Alcoa commission will vote on annexation Monday

A proposed 92-unit apartment complex on Middlesettlements Road will feature four residential buildings plus a community building, gazebo and playground. The Alcoa Municipal/Regional Planning Commission gave site plan approval to Maryville Hall Apartments on Thursday, days before the Alcoa Board of Commissioners votes on whether to annex the 14.781 acres into the city. The commission will vote on the requested annexation, as well as the proposed zoning and plan of services for the property, at a called meeting at 8:15 a.m. Monday in the Commission Chambers of the Alcoa Municipal Building, 223 Associates Blvd. Although the planning commission recommended in April that Alcoa not annex the property at the intersection of Middlesettlements Road and Robert C. Jackson Drive, city commissioners revisited the issue Aug. 8 after voting in July not to provide fire hydrants to the proposed apartment complex because it is outside the city limits, as is city policy. Since then the Alcoa Board of Zoning Appeals also has granted Maryville Hall Apartments LP a special exception for multi-family residential units in General Business District E. Site specifics The site plan approved by planning commissioners Thursday shows access to the apartment complex from Middlesettlements Road, City Planner Jeremy Pearson noted, but that access would be moved when the city extends Robert C. Jackson Drive to Louisville Road. There is a 100-foot right of way reserved on the property for the future road extension, which already is on the city’s long-range transportation plan, though the city has not purchased that right of way from the property owner yet. Planning commissioners were less concerned during a work session Wednesday about encumbrances on the property, including a transmission line easement and 100- and 500-year flood hazards, than they were about the proposed apartment complex’s impact on city schools. “I tell you: every day more people from Knoxville are moving over here,” said Chairman Clarence Williams. Planning Commissioner John “Rocky” Rochelle agreed. “I know the new high school is big enough, but what about the lower grades?” he asked. However, the planning commission was not asked Thursday to vote on the proposed annexation, as the body already had made a recommendation on it in April. Planning commissioners had no other concerns with the site plan, proposed zoning or plan of services for the Maryville Hall Apartments property or the proposed zoning and plan of services for the 7-acre remnant property still owned by R.T. and Clara Ousley. All the requests regarding these properties were approved unanimously Thursday, including the annexation request by the Ousleys for the remnant property at 1314 Middlesettlements Road. Other action Also on Thursday, Alcoa planning commissioners approved: • a request by William Bryant to combine two lots at 245 Bessie Harvey Avenue; • a request by Bart Welch to annex property at 3521 Wrights Ferry Road and to zone the property Interstate Commercial District I-C after annexation; and • a site plan for minor additions to CBBC at 214 N. Calderwood Street. Four other items on Thursday’s agenda were deferred: three at the request of applicants and one at the request of the city’s planning staff.© Copyright 2010 Blount County Publishers LLC, source Newspapers