BusinessTN

For the first time in decades, driveways are being replaced with alleyways in Knox County. Victor Jernigan’s vision of a traditional neighborhood, a throwback to the early 1900s, is just one example of New Urbanism cropping up across the state. But despite the fact that most developers and city officials are now quite familiar with and often sympathetic to the tenets of New Urbanism, Jernigan’s plans were met with more resistance than any other Knoxville-area development in recent history. The opposition did not come from neighborhood groups, government officials or the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC). Instead, Jernigan faced a battle against the more recent past: ordinances that were written at a time when “traditional neighborhoods” were no longer being built.

Not only is the word “alley” nonexistent in Knox County engineering vocabulary, but also the plans for Jernigan’s McCampbell Farm were so noncompliant with county ordinances that the project was granted 34 variances, far exceeding the typical three to five for most developments. To create McCampbell Farm in the northeastern part of the county, Jernigan and his small team received variances for curvatures and widths of roads as well as for wide medians. Alleys had to be approved as public streets, one-way and without curbs to keep them narrow. Dan Kelly, a principal planner at the MPC, says, “Each one was a type of variance we’ve granted in the past. There’s just usually not that many in one development.”

The developers bombarded the MPC with variance requests, and their success in obtaining them is as much a measure of their determination as it is the MPC’s support of McCampbell Farm and the type of neighborhood it will be. After hearing about the development’s plan for generous open space, a sense of community and what seemed to be a better use of the land, Kelly says the planning staff decided to help make it possible.

Hammering out the specifics of McCampbell Farm with the MPC and Knox County Engineering has been a frustrating experience for everyone, but Jernigan has been pleased to see that everyone wants to find solutions. In the course of negotiating 21-foot medians for McCampbell Farm (Jernigan had wanted them to be 24 feet wide), Benny Moorman, who joined Jernigan on the project to handle layout and land planning, designed a solution to the Knox County Engineering’s concerns over medians that could cause traffic and safety issues. To better indicate which side of the median one should turn onto at an intersection, Moorman tapered the ends of the medians down to a five-foot radius, making them narrower at the ends. “That was the selling point that made us able to keep our wide medians,” Moorman says.

Ordinances allowing for traditional neighborhood development with retro features have been in place in the City of Knoxville, but not in Knox County. Kelly says the MPC has made draft proposals for changes to development regulations in the county, but they have not been adopted. In Knoxville, one traditional neighborhood development in the New Urbanism style has been successful, Kelly says. Mechanicsville Commons was built in an old Knoxville neighborhood where a housing project had stood. “Most of these developers know what they have to do to make money,” Kelly says. “If [McCampbell Farm] goes well and succeeds, we may see others.”

The popularity of these developments already is evident elsewhere in the state. Harbor Town in Downtown Memphis has a reputation for expensive, status-symbol homes. The City of Franklin has worked to be flexible and welcoming, approving various plans that make design a primary concern. Westhaven is one of the newest mixed-use traditional neighborhood developments coming out of the ground in Franklin, and homes there have sold quickly. And in tornado-scarred downtown Jackson, city officials are considering these neighborhood concepts as the city’s rebuilding efforts are underway.

McCampbell Farm will be the first project of its kind in East Tennessee, Jernigan says, adding that he was inspired by Knoxville neighborhoods that have historical status and are highly sought-after by homebuyers. Jernigan had the original vision for the project and began searching for the property in 1999. He found the McCampbell Farm property, which has been in the Babelay family for more than 150 years. Once he identified the land, Jernigan and his development partner Tim Neal enlisted Moorman of Benchmark Associates and Dewayne Pendley and Bill Blankenship as architects on the project.

To get started, the development and land acquisition loan for the McCampbell Farm project is $4.5 million for the first of four phases. Jernigan says he hopes home sales will generate as much as $75 million over the next five years. By this month, Jernigan hopes to obtain approval for the final engineered drawings and to begin land grading and selling lots. He wants the homes to look “uniquely Knoxville” with a traditional, comfortable feel. In Queen Anne Victorian and Craftsman styles, the homes will range from 1,500 to 4,000 square feet, and their average target price will be about $225,000. “We wanted to do something that was especially nice, where real people could live, not something that would limit itself to a price point that takes two or three incomes to afford,” Jernigan says, adding that he has plans for larger homes, so some could cost in the $500,000 range.

Jernigan recently acquired another farm in front of McCambell Farm. That property will be up for zoning this fall. He wants to build an upscale shopping center on part of the new farm and add housing around the shopping center. “Nice projects lead to other nice projects,” he says. It’s no secret that a healthy relationship with county officials is imperative for developments to get off the ground, and Jernigan can add to his advantage that he and his team have truly broken new ground with the powers that be.