The proposed Weigel’s site at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road is pictured above on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission approved a site plan Thursday evening for a new Weigel’s at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road.
The plan for the 6,600-square foot store on an undeveloped 3.6-acre site was approved 9-0 in a voice vote Thursday.
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A rezoning could allow about a dozen single-family residential lots on about five acres of currently vacant land on Warehouse Road. A conceptual plan is shown above.
A rezoning that could be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission could allow a dozen single-family residential lots on roughly five acres of currently vacant land on Warehouse Road.
The rezoning request, which does not obligate the property owner to build the homes, was presented to the Planning Commission during a non-voting session Thursday evening.
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A Weigel’s store site plan for about 3.6 acres at South Illinois Avenue and Union Valley Road, as presented to the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023.
A new Weigel’s store has been proposed along South Illinois Avenue.
The 6,600-square-foot store would be on about 3.61 acres at the intersection with Union Valley Road.
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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on about 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue headed toward Knoxville. (Map by City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider a rezoning request that could allow about 400 apartments on roughly 32 acres along South Illinois Avenue.
The property is bordered by South Illinois Avenue, Mitchell Road, and Centrifuge Way (at the top of the hill headed out of Oak Ridge to Knoxville on South Illinois).
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A plumbers and steamfitters union wants to use a former hardware store on Oak Ridge Turnpike for a trade school. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A plumbers and steamfitters union wants to use a former hardware store for a trade school.
A rezoning for the project was recommended in a voice vote by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday. There was no opposition.
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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 21, 2022, will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 21, 2022, will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company.
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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 21, 2022, will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company.
The property (Lot 6a) has been purchased from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board by TRISO-X LLC, a nuclear fuel company that announced expansion plans in Oak Ridge in April 2022, the city staff said. The company said it hopes to bring hundreds of highly skilled, high-paying jobs to the Oak Ridge area and further “Oak Ridge’s well-earned reputation as the center of U.S. nuclear innovation and excellence.”
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 21, 2022, will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company. (Image by City of Oak Ridge)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday, July 21, 2022, will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company.
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If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to: Oak Ridge TodayP.O. Box 6064Oak Ridge, TN 37831 We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here. We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!
Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, pictured above on Friday, May 7, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, the former Pine Ridge above South Illinois Avenue.
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Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, pictured above on Friday, May 7, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, the former Pine Ridge above South Illinois Avenue.
The 45-acre site could have 57 single-family lots, as well as open space, on a new street and cul-de-sac with access off Summit Drive on the former ridge, according to the agenda for an Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission meeting on Thursday.
Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, pictured above on Friday, May 7, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Residential lots have been proposed for the upper part of Oak Ridge Summit, the former Pine Ridge above South Illinois Avenue.
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Commercial horse stables and horse-based therapy programs have been proposed near Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge on about 31 acres at the end of Hermitage Boulevard. (Aerial property image from Oak Ridge Board of Zoning Appeals agenda)
Commercial horse stables and horse-based therapy programs have been proposed near Big Turtle Park in west Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Board of Zoning Appeals will consider a special exception to allow the commercial facility in a residential/open space district on Tuesday, May 11.
The request has been sought by Sean and Sara Pennington, who could buy roughly 31 acres at the end of Hermitage Boulevard for the project. The property is currently owned by the owner of an adjacent single-family lot, Joseph and Tanya Tuminello.
“The stables are intended to board horses and provide people with horse-based therapy programs,” according to a staff report for the zoning appeals board.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will discuss a site plan for the planned storage facility at Main Street Oak Ridge and apartments on Emory Valley Road on Thursday.
The storage facility would be built along Rutgers Avenue in the area between JCPenney and Walmart. The apartments would be at 689 Emory Valley Road.
Also on the agenda are a master plan and subarea plan amendment for The Preserve at Clinch River, Subarea G.
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss a special recreation district, which could allow a motorsports park, among other potential uses, during a meeting this evening.
The special recreation district is being considered as a zoning ordinance amendment. The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission has recommended it, but the City Council has not approved it.
A motorsports park has been proposed at the Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The proposal has both supporters and detractors.
The zoning ordinance amendment would not endorse that specific proposal. Instead, it would create a new zoning district, the special recreation district, which could be used for large-scale recreation and entertainment developments.
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss a special recreation district that would allow a motorsports park, among other potential uses.
The special recreation district is being considered as a zoning ordinance amendment. The Planning Commission will meet online, and the meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday, February 18).
A motorsports park has been proposed at the Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The proposal has both supporters and detractors.
The zoning ordinance amendment would not endorse that specific proposal. Instead, it would create a new zoning district, the special recreation district, which could be used for large-scale recreation and entertainment developments.
A crew works in the area of the second phase of construction of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 5, 2020. The construction work has since been suspended. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 7:45 p.m.
Four new stores are planned at Main Street Oak Ridge, but construction has been suspended for now.
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A crew works in the area of the second phase of construction of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 5, 2020. The construction work has since been suspended. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Four new stores are planned at Main Street Oak Ridge, but construction has been suspended for now.
The four new stores are Five Below, Home Goods, Old Navy, and Ross Dress for Less. The retailers have signed leases, and their stores could be ready to open as soon as the spring of 2021, said Neil Wilson, principal of the development company, TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC. The new stores would be between JCPenney and PetSmart. That includes some of the area where the roundabout used to be.
But construction of the building that would contain the new stores has been suspended.
“Retailers are postponing the opening of new stores and re-thinking the size and configuration of store footprints,” Wilson told Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson in an April 20 letter. “As a result, the retail developers are delaying the construction of the building to house those new stores.”
Wilson said TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC is trying hard to get the project back into its development timeline in 60 days. The storage facility, which has previously been considered by city officials, is part of the effort to get the project back on track, he said.
Wilson said retailers are suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the estimated growth in global retail for 2020 will be cut in half from the levels that were forecast before COVID-19.
The types of stores that will be hit the hardest are “short-term, fashion, furniture, and electronics retailers,” Wilson said. Customers will buy fewer of those discretionary items, choosing instead to stock up on food and household supplies.
But in the meantime, construction could proceed quickly on a three-story self-storage facility at Main Street Oak Ridge. It would be along Rutgers Avenue, behind Burkes Outlet, Electronic Express, and PetSmart. The self-storage market is doing well, Wilson said.
Some residents and city officials, including members of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, have opposed the proposed self-storage facility or shown little interest in it.
But in a split vote Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 4-3 to approve a zoning change that could allow it. The zoning ordinance amendment, which did not specifically approve the Main Street Oak Ridge project, is expected to be considered for final approval during another City Council meeting in June.
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