A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike.
A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning would change the property from an O-2 Office District to a B-2 General Business District.
The development plan calls for a Taco Bell fast-food restaurant with a drive-through on the property, according to a rezoning request that will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, December 14, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
It’s not clear if the existing building, which once housed the city’s police station and later the Oak Ridge Utility District, would remain. Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, has been there since January 2009, but the court is moving to a county-owned building that once housed the Oak Ridge Senior Center on Emory Valley Road.
The rezoning application to be considered Thursday said surrounding properties in the area are zoned B-2, and B-2 would provide zoning for similar restaurants.
The property is currently owned by Vintage Development Corporation of Knoxville. It is across Bus Terminal Road from Security Square and roughly across Oak Ridge Turnpike from medical facilities that include Methodist Medical Center.
The Oak Ridge municipal staff has recommended that the rezoning request be approved.
“There is an existing B-2 district immediately across Bus Terminal Road, so the zoning change would effectively extend that district,” the city staff said. “Further, the majority of the office uses in the immediate vicinity are on the north side of the Oak Ridge Turnpike, and properties on the south side are predominantly commercial in nature. Therefore, the request would support and enhance the existing land use development pattern in the area.”
The city staff said the Planning Commission should consider any possible uses allowed in the B-2 zoning district when evaluating the request, and not just the intended drive-through restaurant.
“Any significant re-development of the site would have to comply with the city’s landscaping and design regulations, which would constitute an aesthetic and environmental improvement for the character of the area,” the city staff said.
You can see the Thursday night Planning Commission agenda here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See our last story on the Anderson County General Sessions Court move here.
A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
A Taco Bell restaurant could be built on the property that now houses Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, at the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. A rezoning has been requested for the 1.1-acre site by Tacala TN Corporation of Vestavia Hills, Alabama. The rezoning request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 14, 2017, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.
Anderson County General Sessions Court, Division II, is pictured above on Bus Terminal Road in Oak Ridge on Nov. 19, 2015. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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