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City Council to discuss special recreation district, which could allow motorsports park

Posted at 2:56 pm March 16, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
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.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: Horizon Center, motorsports park, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, zoning ordinance

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Posted at 4:42 pm February 18, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
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.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: motorsports park, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, zoning district, zoning ordinance

Council to consider zoning district that could allow motorsports park

Posted at 1:58 pm February 8, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
Part of the site where a 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 City Council on Monday will consider a zoning ordinance amendment that could allow a motorsports park.

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 being considered by Council at 7 p.m. Monday, February 8, does 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 motorsports park would be one of the permitted uses in the new zoning district, if it is approved. Other permitted uses would be an amphitheater, athletic facility, fairground, amusement park, and zoo.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: Horizon Center, motorsports park, Oak Ridge City Council, zoning ordinance

For members: New stores planned at Main Street, but construction suspended

Posted at 4:37 pm May 13, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

 

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.

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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.

The rest of this story, which includes background information and information about the City Council vote, is available if you are a member: an advertiser, sponsor, or subscriber to Oak Ridge Today.

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Note: Most news stories on Oak Ridge Today are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our advertisers, sponsors, and subscribers. Some are considered premium content. This story is premium content. Premium content can include in-depth, investigative, and exclusive stories. These stories generally take more than four hours to report, write, and publish.

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Filed Under: Business, Business, COVID-19, Front Page News, Government, Health, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Premium Content, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Brett Rogers, Chuck Hope, construction, COVID-19, Derrick Hammond, Ellen Smith, Five Below, Home Goods, JCPenney, Jim Dodson, Kelly Callison, Main Street Oak Ridge, Mark Watson, Neil Wilson, Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Oak Rige City Council, Old Navy, Parker Hardy, PetSmart, Ray Evans, RealtyLink, retail, Rick Chinn, Ross Dress for Less, self-storage facility, Stephen Whitson, TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC, Warren Gooch, zoning ordinance

RealtyLink has ‘immediate opportunity’ to develop self storage facility

Posted at 7:16 pm April 27, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The developer of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday, April 25, 2019, said it has an “immediate opportunity” for a climate-controlled self storage facility at the 58-acre site. Examples of what these types of facilities can look like were presented to the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission by Brett Rogers, construction director for RealtyLink, the developer.

The developer of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday said it has an “immediate opportunity” for a climate-controlled self storage facility at the 58-acre site.

The self storage facility, which could be along Rutgers Avenue, could be three stories, with a maximum height of 35 feet. It could have about the same “footprint” as Dick’s Sporting Goods. It would have internal elevators and minimal parking, and it would be very attractive and have a minimal impact, said Brett Rogers, construction director for RealtyLink, the developer. There would be a sales office on the bottom floor. RealtyLink would self-develop the facility.

Rogers showed examples of two similar facilities in Knoxville and one each in Hardin Valley and Farragut during an Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission meeting on Thursday evening.

A market study showed high demand for this type of facility, Rogers said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Brett Rogers, Charlie Hensley, Main Street—Oak Ridge, Nathalie Schmidt, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Ray Evans, RealtyLink, Rutgers Avenue, self storage facility, UB-2, Unified General Business District, zoning ordinance, zoning text amendment

Council to consider traffic signals, access at ORHS, Main Street Oak Ridge

Posted at 8:36 am April 9, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Main Street Oak Ridge Master Plan March 26, 2015

Here is the master plan for Main Street Oak Ridge. (See a larger version of the plan in the link below.) The traffic signal and access would be on Rutgers Avenue in the bottom middle of the map above.

 

The City Council on Monday will consider resolutions that would allow new traffic signals at Oak Ridge High School and Main Street Oak Ridge.

Main Street Oak Ridge is the proposed project that would redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. The proposed traffic signal would be on Rutgers Avenue at a new access to Main Street Oak Ridge that the City Council could approve on Monday.

The other traffic signal would be on Oak Ridge Turnpike between Oak Ridge High School and the Civic Center. Council postponed a vote on that stoplight in March. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Government, Meetings and Events, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, Civic Center, Crosland Southeast, crossing guard, Gary Cinder, Main Street—Oak Ridge, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge High School, Oak Ridge Mall, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, Oak Ridge Public Works, Oak Ridge Turnpike, ORHS, pedestrians, planned unit development, PUD, PUD master plan, rezoning, Rutgers Avenue, S&W Contracting Company Inc., Senior Advisory Board, Senior Center, special programs fund, stoplight, traffic signal, zoning ordinance

Zoning change approved by city officials helps Main Street Oak Ridge project

Posted at 9:30 pm March 9, 2015
By John Huotari 7 Comments

Main Street Oak Ridge Belk on March 2, 2015

The Belk store at the Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge, is pictured above on March 2.

 

Leasing, financing, and pre-construction work on the Main Street Oak Ridge project is progressing as planned, a developer said in late February, and a change to the city’s zoning ordinance approved on Monday will help the redevelopment.

James Downs, Crosland Southeast partner, said his company hopes to start construction late in the second quarter of 2015. It’s part of a plan to have a grand opening in the fall of 2016.

Survey crews from Cannon and Cannon have completed a boundary survey of the 60-acre site, the former Oak Ridge Mall, and field work is under way, said Ray Evans, the city’s retail consultant. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: boundary survey, Cannon and Cannon, Crosland Southeast, financing, James Downs, leasing, Main Street—Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Mall, ORNL FCU, ORNL Federal Credit Union, Planning Commission, planning unit development, pre-construction, PUD overlay, Ray Evans, redevelopment, tax increment financing, TIF, UB-2, UB-2 zoning, zoning ordinance

Zoning case against Davis dismissed

Posted at 12:33 pm March 19, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Information from WYSH Radio

The citation against Clinton CPA Teddy Davis over an alleged zoning violation was dismissed Tuesday in Clinton City Court.

Davis was issued a citation last summer after someone complained that he was living in a camper on his property on Seivers Boulevard. Davis said he slept in the camper only a few nights while his refinished hardwood floors dried and, to protest the citation, erected a tent in his front yard and began sleeping in a cot on the property. He also put up a sign that said the city has violated his constitutional rights, a sign he says will remain until city officials admit to the accusation.

Davis is the campaign treasurer for Phil Harber, a Clinton attorney seeking the Republican nomination for Anderson County chancellor, and he said the city did not begin targeting him until that was announced. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Clinton, Government, Top Stories Tagged With: camper, Clinton City Court, Clinton city judge, constitutional rights, Mike Farley, Phil Harber, Seivers Boulevard, Teddy Davis, zoning ordinance, zoning violation

Following business backlash, city schedules public hearing on signs

Posted at 6:55 pm February 11, 2013
By John Huotari 5 Comments

Changes to the city’s electronic sign ordinance that were proposed late last year were publicly opposed by several business owners, and they ended up being pulled from a December meeting of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

Now, the city has scheduled a public hearing on the existing sign regulations, which were adopted in 2003, a city press release said.

The changes proposed last year would have governed message display times and brightness of electronic signs. They would have required that electronic sign messages be static and shown for at least 10 seconds, and they would have set a maximum light intensity for the signs. The city staff said drivers and residents have complained about the electronic reader board signs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: business backlash, business owners, Central Services Complex, display times, electronic reader board signs, electronic sign ordinance, electronic signs, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, public hearing, sign regulations, zoning ordinance

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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