Church faces hurdle; Norris planners say no
The proposed Church at Anderson Crossing has plans to put a 400-seat sanctuary in this former IGA supermarket space in Norris if the city approves a zoning change. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
Ken Seaman of the 3310 Real Estate Partnership brought the request to the Planning Commission to facilitate his sale of the former Hensley’s IGA property on Andersonville Highway to a Knoxville church, which wants to convert the old supermarket space into a sanctuary for a new church.
But Norris City Planner Kathryn Baldwin recommended strongly against the zoning change to the commission, saying that it would “not be in the best interests of the people of Norris.”
She noted that the property is part of the Anderson Crossing shopping district, which she said is the only C2 commercial district in Norris.
The C2 designation is the only zone in the city that allows for major retail development such as supermarkets and other so-called big-box stores, and that the city needs to preserve that area for what she said will inevitably be an important commercial center.
“There are 20,000 cars a day passing that corner (Andersonville Highway and Norris Freeway), and it’s also a signaled intersection,” Baldwin said. She added that having a traffic signal at the intersection makes it more valuable to commercial uses because it helps to facilitate traffic entering and exiting the shopping center.
Seaman, who bought the 3.99-acre property with his business partner Dave Moore three years ago for $1.2 million, told the Planning Commission that “We’re excited about this opportunity,” meaning the use of the site for a new church.
“We believe it will bring some life into the community.”
The Church at Sterchi Hills on Dry Gap Pike plans to build a 400-seat auditorium in the former Hensley’s building to create the new Church at Anderson Crossing, a church spokesman told The Courier News recently.
Robbie DeJarnette, the church’s administrative pastor, said the new church would be expected to draw primarily from current Sterchi Hill church members who live in the Clinton, Norris and Andersonville areas.
Planning Commission Chairman Bob Sain made the motion to approve the zoning change, but then he and the other six commissioners voted “no” on the motion.
That’s not the end of it, though.
An ordinance to make the zoning change may still come before the Norris City Council. That was scheduled for Monday (Oct. 12), but Seaman said Tuesday afternoon that he has asked the city to delay the request for 60 days.
The City Council is not bound by the Planning Commission’s decision.
The ordinance would have to be approved by the City Council on two readings, in separate meetings, with a public hearing between the two.
Sain allowed two representatives from the church to speak to the zoning change request at Monday night’s meeting, and one of them, who said he is a pastor at the church but did not give his name, suggested to the commission that the church might file a federal lawsuit against Norris for “religious discrimination” if the church is not allowed to locate on the property.
That pastor told the commissioners that the church plans to pay $2.2 million for the entire 3.99-acre property, and to spend upwards of $1 million to make improvements, including the 400-seat auditorium.
After the meeting, Baldwin told The Courier News that the church would have no grounds to prevail in such a lawsuit.
She said during the meeting that Norris already has “plenty of churches,” and that churches are already allowed either outright or by special exception is most of the city’s zones – just not in the C2 commercial zone.
The former grocery building most recently served as a location for the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, which had been allowed to use the former grocery space free of charge.
Still housed in the center are two hair salons and a gun store.
It’s also the former location of the Anderson County government offices that collect real estate taxes and process vehicle registrations.
That office moved to the shopping center next door, which houses the Anderson Crossing Pharmacy.