Board grants parking reduction for mixed-use building after stormwater and ROW limits cut spaces

The Knoxville Board of Zoning Appeals approved BZA260032, a request to reduce required off-street parking from 137 to 113 spaces for an existing mixed-use, multi-tenant structure in an IMU district.

Staff explained that the lot’s layout predates recent parking and stormwater requirements and that an earlier restriping had left several spaces partially in the public right-of-way. Engineering also required removal of encroaching spaces and a reconfiguration to meet current stormwater controls as part of a proposed tenant improvement, which further reduced the number of available on-site spaces. Ben Mullins, representing the applicant, said the building’s likely uses — large self-storage area, some office and warehouse — will generate far fewer automobile trips than zoning’s mixed-use parking minimums assume, and that meeting current requirements short of demolishing the building would be infeasible.

During discussion board members and staff weighed technical options such as underground detention (previously considered but limited by geotechnical constraints and floodproofing requirements) and whether future changes of use would trigger new parking obligations. Staff and the board noted that a change of use or a substantial remodel could eliminate the variance and require the property to meet then-applicable parking minimums. The board approved the variance, emphasizing that the decision relied on the existing building footprint, the practical limits of adding parking without demolition, and stormwater constraints.

The applicant and staff said the property will continue to be subject to change-of-use review if tenants or uses shift in ways that require additional parking.