The Crossville Planning Commission on Tuesday approved two variances and a plat for a two-lot subdivision on Woodlawn Road, allowing a rear lot without direct road frontage to be served by a 40-foot ingress, egress and utility easement and permitting a soils/environmental certificate variance tied to future annexation if city sewer is required.

Staff presented the case, saying the property owner had been misdirected to the wrong planning commission earlier in the sale process and that the commission staff worked with the owner and surveyor to bring the plat up to local standards. The rear lot contains an existing cell-phone tower and is mostly covered by concrete, leaving no suitable soils for an on-site septic system, staff said.

The commission approved a variance to the road-frontage requirement by accepting the proposed 40-foot ingress/egress/utility easement as access in lieu of road frontage. The panel also approved a variance exempting the property from the usual soils and environmental certificate requirement; the staff added a condition that if development occurs and no suitable soils are found, annexation into the city would be required before the property could connect to city sewer.

Commissioners said the variant approach followed prior local practice while reflecting a recent change in city policy limiting sewer connections to properties inside the city limits. Staff noted that the parcel lies outside Crossville city limits but inside the city's urban growth boundary along Woodlawn Road and that, under Crossville's utility rules, sewer connection would require annexation.

The planning commission approved the road-frontage variance, the soils/environmental certificate variance and the final plat by voice vote; the minutes record the motions as carried but do not show a roll-call tally.

The owner indicated plans to merge the two lots into a single larger tract after closing; staff said a title attorney's closing issue had delayed that merger. Staff also said the surveyor included on the plat a note and signature block documenting the variances and the annexation condition to be referenced on the deed.

The planning commission's approvals allow recording of the plat once signatures and the register of deeds filing occur. Staff said the plat should be ready to record the next business day or shortly thereafter.