Planners recommend denying heavy-industrial rezoning amid complaints about grease-processing outdoor operations

Staff presented a request to rezone a roughly 1.1-acre property from IG (general industrial) to IH (heavy industrial). Staff recommended denial because the IH district permits outdoor storage and more intensive industrial activities (noise, vibration, dust, odors) that could harm adjacent residential areas, including Bell Morris and Park Ridge neighborhoods.

Staff noted a grease-processing facility has occupied the site since 2017 and that zoning currently allows such a use only if operations occur inside a fully enclosed building. The property has generated numerous complaints to Knox County Environmental Health and the city’s plan-review and inspections department, according to staff. Staff also pointed out that two other grease-processing facilities in the area operate fully enclosed and have not generated complaints.

Commissioners discussed that rezoning to IH might appear designed to legitimize ongoing outdoor operations and a commissioner said the operator appeared to be ‘‘trying to avoid notice violations.’’ Staff emphasized that the zoning decision should be based on the full range of uses allowed in a district rather than the current tenant’s activity alone. The transcript records discussion but no formal vote.