The Cookeville Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance Thursday to allow for a reduced landscape yard along a new public street serving the new VA clinic on Neal Street.
The variance the first step toward building that new facility. Planner Chris Phillips said the new public road would be named Truitt Drive. Phillips said the variance reduces the required 10-foot landscape yard to five feet to accommodate parking and the necessary right-of-way for the development.
“The proposed street connects Neal Street and Guardian Way,” Phillips said, “The VA clinic intends on extending Guardian Way to the east to allow for a second ingress-egress to the clinic, and the submitted plan depicts truck traffic utilizing the access point provided on Guardian Way. In order to accommodate the required parking and to provide the required right-of-way along Truitt Drive, the petitioner is requesting that the internal landscape yard be reduced to 5 feet.”
Phillips said an existing TVA easement forced the proposed street to shift east within the right-of-way to avoid construction in that area. Phillips said the development will still meet the required number of trees for street frontage and parking spaces despite the reduction.
“They originally proposed that as a driveway, which does not require a landscape yard,” Community Development Director Jon Ward said. “But they came back and asked the city to accept that as a street, and you know, the city would maintain it, it would give the other property owner rights to access from it, the Golden Oak Dentistry on the west side of that proposed street.”
Ward said the city intends to eliminate a cul-de-sac in the area to create a regular street section for the clinic. Ward said the facility is expected to be a high-volume regional clinic serving a large area.
“We’re trying to eliminate that cul-de-sac because, you know, it’s going to be a pretty high volume use there, the VA clinic, right?” Ward said. “This is going to be a regional VA clinic to serve a, you know, a big area.”
Phillips said traffic studies were conducted to determine the best flow for the site, resulting in a right-turn-only exit onto Neal Street. Phillips said the median on Neal Street will be maintained to keep traffic moving safely.