The old Kerbela Shriners temple sits on 5.7 acres at the south side of Sevier Avenue, out at Dawson Street — one of the largest single pieces of land left on the corridor. Thursday afternoon, the plan to turn it into a 55-plus apartment community goes back before the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission as agenda item 44.

★What's actually being asked

This is a Level III alternative compliance request, which is planning-speak for: the design doesn't meet the rulebook, and the applicant is asking the commission to allow it anyway. Specifically, it seeks relief from seven South Waterfront Form-Based Code standards, including maximum lot size, building footprint, setbacks, and transparency — the requirements that govern how big a block can get and how much of a ground floor has to be windows rather than wall. Planning staff didn't publish a thumbs up or down; the recommendation points commissioners to the approval criteria in Article 7.0.2.G and the Zoning Administrator's report.

★How it got to a fifth agenda

The case was filed in February, automatically postponed 30 days in April, postponed again in May, then heard in June and again on July 9. At the July meeting, commissioners pressed on how public the finished site would actually feel — including whether a pedestrian tunnel drawn into the plan would be open to the neighborhood or reserved for residents — and sent the applicant back to revise. Revised material came in through August 5.

★If you want a say

The meeting starts at 1:30 PM Thursday in the Main Assembly Room at the City County Building, 400 Main Street, and it's open to the public. Comments and requests to speak go through knoxplanning.org — though the site has been down this week; if it won’t load, the Planning office is (865) 215-2500 — and the staff planner on the case is Mike Reynolds. Whatever happens Thursday, it's the biggest decision on Sevier Avenue this year.