FMPC backs façade code change for West End Center
Owners of West End Center soon may be able to move forward with plans to add another building in the shopping center’s parking lot.
The Farragut Municipal Planning Commission voted Thursday, Dec. 18, to recommend the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen approve an amendment to the town’s zoning ordinance related to building façade requirements.
The proposed amendment still must be approved by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen before taking effect.
“We talked about it enough at the last meeting,” FMPC Chairman Ron Pinchok said.
“We did,” added Mayor Ron Williams, who also serves on the planning commission.
Under the current ordinance, new buildings in the Mixed Use Town Center District “adherence to the Town Center Design Requirement for each exterior wall of a new building to maintain 75 percent minimum coverage with face brick,” Community Development director Mark Shipley said.
West End Center is located within both the Mixed Use Town Center District and the General Commercial (C-1) zoning district, he added.
“This item was discussed at the November meeting [during the workshop portion, where no action was taken],” Shipley said.
He said the property owners are considering construction of a new building at the southern intersection of West End Avenue and West Point Drive.
“The building would be on the same parcel as the existing West End Center shopping center,” Shipley said. “As discussed at the November meeting, the existing shopping center predates the formation of the Mixed Use Town Center land use area and the associated regulations.
“Since the West End Center pre-dates this requirement, the existing buildings are well below the face brick percentage,” Shipley said.
However, the town’s adopted Architectural Design Standards allow buildings in the Town Center Subarea to average face brick coverage across all four elevations, rather than requiring each elevation to meet the 75 percent threshold individually.
“This is the same application used outside the Mixed Use Town Center, with the exception that masonry — and not just face brick — may be used,” Shipley said.
“Our main goal is to match the existing façade materials and have everything else be masonry,” said Jess Colby Campbell, architectural designer with The Architecture Collaborative, representing the property owners.
Shipley said the applicant is requesting the zoning ordinance be amended to allow the averaging method already permitted under the Architectural Design Standards.
“This would allow the new building to better blend architecturally with the existing shopping center while still maintaining an average of at least 75 percent face brick,” he said. “As it stands now, this approach conflicts with the zoning ordinance.”
During its Nov. 20 meeting, commission members indicated support for amending the ordinance to provide additional flexibility.
Shipley said town staff
is proposing that new construction be governed by the Architectural Design Standards specific to the Town Center Subarea under Ordinance 25-20.
“In addition to increased flexibility, this amendment would also make the zoning ordinance consistent with the Architectural Design Standards,” he said.
