Appendix B: Choto Peninsula

The Choto area, described here as the area west of Concord Park and south of the Town of Farragut, is currently comprised of approximately 1,300 households, with approximately 600 additional lots that have been platted but not built on. Given the amount of vacant land that is not constrained by steep slopes, staff estimates that 2,700 additional units can be accommodated on the landscape. The implications of such growth are that some limited amount of retail services could be supported so that the area’s residents do not have to drive substantial distances for basic day-to-day purchases.

Planned residential (PR) zoning, which is typical in the area, allows one acre of neighborhood scale retail development for every 100 houses that are developed. PR zoning requires a site development plan, allowing the community and MPC the opportunity to review design and layout of the residential and retail components of the project. A development plan for one acre of land adjacent to Mallard Bay subdivision has been approved for neighborhood retail services within the PR zone. A convenience store is planned for this site.

To have appropriately scaled retail development with uses that are compatible with the neighborhood and its architecture, amendments to the PR zone should be made to insure that any retail services offered in the PR zone meet the requirements of the neighborhood commercial (CN) zone and be limited to specific uses. Amendments should also be made to the CN zone to allow a more design-based zone which mandates use-on-review site plan approval for any development. The neighborhood could be more involved in the design process, resulting in a use that better meets their needs.

Any future neighborhood retail should be developed using quality design standards and should meet certain criteria. The following points should be used if additional neighborhood retail services are to be provided:

1. There should be a demonstrable market for the goods and services.
2. Detailed design plans should accompany the site plan, outlining building materials, access and circulation, roof shapes, colors, lighting, landscaping and sign types and dimensions (monument signs, for example).
3. Any development that will generate 750 or more trips on a daily basis should be required to prepare a traffic impact study (TIS). Any road improvements identified by the TIS should be done in conjunction with the development.
4. Preferred locations are intersections of roads classified as arterial or collector on the major road plan.
5. Location should be limited to 2 of 4 quadrants in a 4 way intersection and 1 of 3 at a ‘T’ intersection.
6. No structure should exceed 20,000 square feet (such a size would be in the range of a fairly compact grocery such as Fresh Market.)
7. A new parking standard should be created for neighborhood retail uses, allowing a reduction in the amount of parking to 3.5 spaces per 1000 square feet of gross leasable area to avoid vast parking areas (the current county standard is 5 spaces per 1000 square feet).