KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission voted to approve plans for a massive development project in northern Knox County, as long as the developers follow some new conditions.
According to reports from The Compass, the developers would need to pay for improvements to West Emory Road, such as building a traffic light, since the road would cut through the proposed area. They also called for crosswalks, turn lanes into the development, and limiting density in the development only to the level they approved.
The development is called Belltown and Smithbuilt Homes applied to build it. Josh Sanderson Primos Land Company, LLC would own the development, according to records.
It would be built on more than 300 acres located between Karns and Powell, spilling over in Anderson County The plans say most of the space would be used by single-family homes, on the northern side of West Emory Road.
On the southern side, Belltown would have around 93 acres made up of a mix of townhomes, multi-family apartments, commercial space and a park. The park would be around 40 acres large and would be turned over to Knox County for its management after the Legacy Parks Foundation develops trails and a kayak launch, according to reports.
Developers said no main building will exceed three stories or 35 feet in height, in the single-family home area. Accessory buildings will not reach more than 18 feet in height, and all buildings will be set back at least 25 feet from peripheral boundaries, including West Emory Road.
"If natural vegetation must be removed for development, then the developer must install a landscape buffer of at least one evergreen tree every 25 linear feet where natural vegetation is removed. The boundary abutting West Emory Road shall be landscaped with a minimum of one evergreen tree every 25 linear feet," the plans said.
They also estimated the development could add around 272 students to Powell Elementary School, Powell Middle School and Karns High School.
It will specifically have 561 detached residential lots, 213 townhouses and 324 apartment units for a total of 1,098 spots where people can live, according to the plans. The commercial space will be around 80,000 square feet large, the plans say.
Information on how much the homes would cost or how much rent would be at the apartments was not immediately available.
The proposed development plans will now go to the Knox County Commission for final approval, and according to reports, preliminary work on the project could start by next June.
