AskBusi focus area
Car wash sites in East Tennessee
We are knowledgeable about what an express car wash site needs here, and we check each corridor against the public record before we say anything about a lot.
Express/automated car-wash pad sites and conversions — traffic counts, access, stacking and utilities.
Preview: this page is not linked from the site yet. It is held until the wording has been reviewed.
What makes a site work
Six things we check. Some come from the public record for the whole corridor; the rest can only be checked on the parcel, and we say which is which.
The road in front of it
We read the daily traffic counts TDOT publishes for the stations along the corridor, with the station id and the count year, and say which station is nearest the lot.
Read from the record for the corridor · Source: TDOT Traffic Points (Tennessee Department of Transportation open data, E-TRIMS)
Getting in and out
Where the entrance sits, which turns a driver can make in and out, and whether the lot has room for a line of cars to wait without backing onto the road. This is a parcel question: we walk the lot, we do not read it off a corridor table.
Checked on the parcel
Zoning and approvals
The district the parcel sits in, the jurisdiction that zones it, and whether that district's use table lists a car wash or a close cousin, by right or by review. We cite the ordinance section so you can read it yourself.
Checked on the parcel · Source: Knoxville - Knox County Zoning (Knoxville-Knox County Planning open data)
Flood map
Whether FEMA's mapped flood areas touch the corridor. A parcel still needs its own flood determination from the lender; a corridor table does not settle one lot.
Checked on the parcel · Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL)
Water and sewer
Which water system serves the area, from the state's service-area map. Sewer capacity and where wash water may go are the utility's to confirm, so we ask the utility and write down who answered.
Checked on the parcel · Source: Tennessee public water system service areas (TDEC, with Vanderbilt's Drinking Water Justice Lab)
Daytime activity nearby
How many jobs sit inside the corridor's trade area, from the Census workplace counts, with the year. That is where people are on a weekday; it says nothing about who lives nearby.
Read from the record for the corridor · Source: LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES), Workplace Area Characteristics, Tennessee
Seven corridors, from the public record
Every figure below is read from the record and links to it. A dash means we hold nothing for that corridor, not that there is nothing there.
| Corridor | Busiest TDOT count station | Commercial zoning districts | FEMA flood areas mapped nearby | Jobs in the trade area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston Pike | 33,104 a day2025 · station 47000138 · Kingston Pike (SR-1 / US-11 / US-70) | 16 districtsC-G-1, O, C-H-1 and more · City of Knoxville Zoning Code, Article 5 | 83 of 182mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 48,081 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Turkey Creek / Parkside Drive | 38,911 a day2025 · station 47000133 · Lovell Road (SR-131) | 14 districtsCA, C-H-2, CB and more · Knox County Zoning Ordinance §5.31 | 37 of 92mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 29,556 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Cedar Bluff | 24,155 a day2025 · station 47000127 · Cedar Bluff Road | 13 districtsPC, C-H-2, C-R-2 and more · Knox County Zoning Ordinance §5.33 | 0 of 2mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 15,424 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Chapman Highway | 39,676 a day2025 · station 47000093 · Chapman Highway (SR-33 overlap) | 15 districtsC-G-2, C-H-2, C-G-3 and more · City of Knoxville Zoning Code, Article 5 | 10 of 22mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 9,110 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Clinton Highway | 29,951 a day2025 · station 47000049 · Clinton Highway (SR-9 / US-25W) | 12 districtsC-H-1, CA, C-H-2 and more · City of Knoxville Zoning Code, Article 5 | 10 of 22mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 7,437 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Alcoa Highway (US-129) | 75,953 a day2025 · station 47000171 · Alcoa Highway (SR-115 / US-129) | 8 districtsC-G-1, CA, C-H-1 and more · City of Knoxville Zoning Code, Article 5 | 27 of 53mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 11,527 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
| Hardin Valley / Pellissippi Corridor | 82,400 a day2025 · station 47000275 · Pellissippi Parkway (SR-162) | 14 districtsCA, PC, OB and more · Knox County Zoning Ordinance §5.31 | 54 of 106mapped areas are special flood hazard areas | 32,049 jobs2023 · Census workplace count |
A TDOT count is a yearly average of cars a day at one station, not a count at your lot. Zoning changes by vote: confirm a parcel on the Planning map. Flood and jobs are corridor-scale; the parcel is a separate check.
How we work
Tell us the use and the place
Two questions: what you are thinking about and where. Contact details come after, only if you want a reply.
We check the record
Traffic, zoning, flood and water for that corridor, from the public sources named on this page. We say what we hold and what we do not.
A broker talks it through
Shawn Wilmoth, CCIM, goes over what the record shows and what only a visit to the parcel can answer. You decide what happens next.
The car wash site checklist
One page to print or save. It is the list we work through before we say anything about a lot, with a box to tick and the record to check it against. It is free and nothing is asked for first.
- The road and the lot 5 checks
- Zoning and approvals 4 checks
- Land and flood 2 checks
- Utilities 4 checks
- Around it 2 checks
- The deal 2 checks
Tell us what you are looking for
All focus areas · Commercial corridors · Check your site criteria for any use
Public-record facts, not a guarantee. This is not legal, tax or investment advice. Confirm any parcel with the agency that published the record before you act.