Let’s Build Knoxville

01/10/2025

1/10/2025 4:30 p.m.

Due to increasingly hazardous road conditions, KAT will be suspending service. The last line-up of the day will leave Knoxville Station at 5:15 p.m. and provide OUTBOUND service only.

Tomorrow, 1/11/2025, we expect to be operating on Severe Snow Routes with a delayed start time of 10:15 a.m. (meaning, the first line-up of the day will leave Knoxville Station at 10:15 a.m.). However, this may change depending on road conditions. Our supervisors will be monitoring them, and we will continue to provide updates on our website, social media, and in the Transit app.

Please visit our severe snow routes page for more details: https://katbus.com/schedules-maps/snow-routes/ -snow-routes

12/22/2024

Marlow Charities, Inc. Marlow Properties, SLLC

Qneshia Tweedy is a mother-of-three who worked as a district manager for a newspaper until the company downsized – leaving her without a job. Now, she works ...

12/13/2024

Missing Middle was dealt a significant blow yesterday. Planning Commission, after nearly 2 hours of debate, decided to accept Peter Ahren’s interpretation of the “Front Setback” as a build-to-zone.

The result: numerous historically contributing 125+ year old homes are going to be demolished; four mature trees are at risk of being removed; and most significantly Knoxville lost the possibility of me building EIGHT (8) 456-636 sf one bedroom dwelling units; rental target of $1,000/mo yesterday.

https://knoxplanning.org/cases/?filter=12-b-24-Ob

https://knoxplanning.org/cases/12-C-24-OB

Marlow Charities, Inc. Let’s Build Knoxville

12/10/2024

Your Urban Connection

12/05/2024

Allie Feinberg has a great article in today's Knoxville News Sentinel about the poor ambulance service in Knoxville and Knox County.

"In one instance, a Knoxville Fire Department paramedic and battalion chief rushed a "profusely" bleeding patient to the hospital in a KFD SUV because first responders were worried he would die before an ambulance arrived.

[...]

Twenty-eight minutes after the 911 call was made, the firefighters loaded the patient into the SUV and drove him to the University of Tennessee Medical Center's emergency room. It was a last-ditch effort after the paramedic determined there was no other way to care for him at the scene.

KFD canceled the calls for an ambulance and arrived at the hospital at 10:31 p.m.

The man died at the hospital, though his injuries were severe enough it's impossible to know whether he would have survived if he had arrived earlier."

Let’s Build Knoxville

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2024/12/05/ambulances-in-knoxville-arrived-late-224-times-in-october/76593264007/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0aHqHjpQ_cyRcKLwVJsZu8WFvYLkdf7j66iiW1RhgEsSfIlDz9VVqNOJo_aem_uzDNyslJLuZ3Xg6SyXiRpg

On Oct. 19, Knoxville Fire Department personnel had to transport a dying patient to the hospital in an SUV.

11/21/2024

From Compass:

“Knoxville city government closed down a residence hall for people experiencing homelessness at a Vestal church this week, after fire code violations had not been rectified over a period of about four months.

About a dozen people were living in classrooms that had been converted to residences at Vestal United Methodist Church’s education building. The fire marshal’s office ordered the closure because the education building did not have a sprinkler system, fire alarms, fire extinguishers or proper permits, according to Knoxville Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks.

He said the building is classified as an “assembly” facility. “It is not permitted for the right occupancy rating for what they were doing,” Wilbanks said, noting that the rooms contained beds and personal effects indicating they were used as permanent apartments.

“It’s a public safety issue,” he said. “We have the International Fire Code because it ensures the safety of people.”

Wilbanks said people have a reasonable expectation of safety in an apartment, and the safety measures called for in the code lessen the likelihood that firefighters would have to rescue residents in case a fire breaks out.

The situation first came to the city’s attention in July, when KFD personnel responded to a medical call at the church and noticed the lack of fire alarms and sprinklers, Wilbanks said. The fire marshal inspected the building and told church leaders what they needed to do to come into compliance with the International Fire Code.

He said the fire marshal gave the church time to get up to code — approximately four months — and returned on Monday to find no progress had been made. The facility was ordered closed immediately.

Knoxville Communications Director Kristen Farley said the people staying at church have been relocated to temporary living quarters. The Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church is helping defray the cost.

Vestal United Methodist was one of three churches that opened their doors to people who were homeless during the January snowstorm that was accompanied by bitterly cold temperatures. The Knoxville-Knox County Office of Housing Stability coordinated the emergency shelter program that was credited with saving lives.

Wilbanks said that the church was adequate as an emergency shelter — “We can’t just leave people out on the street to die,” he said — but wasn’t designed to house people permanently.

Tim Jones, communications director for the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church, said the organization's 545 congregations are largely autonomous when it comes to ministries. He said he did not know if anyone in the conference leadership knew of the Vestal situation before Monday, but the issue wasn’t the desire to house the residents.

“We don’t have a problem with that whatsoever,” Jones said. “We support helping unhoused individuals.”

He said the conference is working with the city and Vestal United Methodist on a plan to bring the education building up to code. It will likely be expensive, so the conference has set up a giving portal for donations at its website.”



Marlow Charities, Inc. Angelic Ministries Int. Robert Bentley Marlow

11/20/2024

From Compass:

“Fits and Starts
Inconsistencies have emerged as developers have begun projects in line with the city’s Middle Housing plan.
BY SCOTT BARKER • NOVEMBER 20, 2024

A zoning request presented to the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission last week brought up an issue with the city’s Middle Housing program that could see revisions early next year.

Revisions could come following a first-year review of the program in February.
Developer Parker Bartholomew asked Planning commissioners to rezone a lot near Western Heights from RN2 Single-Family Residential to RN4 General Residential. That would allow him to build two duplexes or four “tiny houses,” instead of a fourplex he could build on the property under its current zoning.

Planning commissioners balked at upzoning the property, but deferred action for 90 days so reconsideration would coincide with a planned review of the Middle Housing plan that could affect the project.

The Middle Housing plan adopted by City Council encourages the construction of duplexes, triplexes and other small-scale multi-family developments in older city neighborhoods between the Interstate 640 bypass and the Tennessee River. The idea is to increase density and provide more housing options to accommodate growth.

Bartholomew requested the rezoning for 912 W. Emerald Ave. in the Beaumont neighborhood. The area predominantly consists of single-family houses and Dayspring Christian Academy, which also owns some of the surrounding property. The Western Heights public housing community, where Knoxville’s Community Development Corp. is investing more than $200 million in a complete overhaul, is a mere five parcels away.

Bartholomew noted he could go ahead and build a fourplex under the Middle Housing guidelines, but it would be out of scale with the surrounding single-family houses. “This is what is allowed by right under Missing Mile Housing and I would not have to be here asking for a rezoning," he said.

Planning commissioners, however, expressed reluctance to solve the problem through a rezoning. They are supposed to consider all possible uses within a zone, not any particular plans the owner or developer may have.

“I don’t think the solution is to rezone it to RN-4,” Planning Commissioner Nick Gill said. “A better solution is to address it through the Middle Housing guidelines.”

Planning Commissioner Amy Midis said, “We did Missing Middle to solve these problems in RN-2 without rezoning.”

Bartholomew said he would be willing to change his zoning request to RN-3, which would still allow him to build the duplexes with Planning Commission approval.

Planning Commissioner Katie Overton moved to postpone Barholomew’s request for 90 days, until the Feb. 13 meeting. That would place it in the timeframe of the review. Planning commissioners voted unanimously in favor of postponement.

“Mr. Bartholomew has brought a topic before us that’s certainly worthy of discussion and consideration, and rarely have I seen a new program or ordinance roll out in perfect form,” Planning Commission Chair Tim Hill said.

The Planning Commission is set to review the Middle Housing guidelines in February or March, one year after they were adopted. Planning Commissioner Karyn Adams said similar issues are bubbling up and should be addressed during that review.

There hasn’t been a stampede of developers to build Middle Housing. According to Lindsay Crockett, principal planner and design review program manager for Knoxville-Knox County Planning, 37 Middle Housing applications have been submitted since February. Of those, 24 were approved, one was denied, one was withdrawn, and 11 are under Planning staff review or applicant revisions.

Locations are scattered through various neighborhoods, including West View, Mechanicsville, Old North Knoxville, Oakwood-Lincoln Park, Belle Morris, Burlington, and Morningside Heights.

Developers have to go through an application process that includes a pre-application meeting, site plans review, and input from city staff. Only after receiving a Middle Housing approval certificate can they obtain building permits.

While Middle Housing standards allow for more units than permitted in the base zoning, they are designed to ensure the new houses respect the context, scale and placement of the surrounding neighborhood. And though multi-unit structures by nature increase density, the goal, as stated in a Planning staff report to Council in September, “is not to maximize what can fit on one lot.”

The report identified three “unanticipated conflicts’ that City Council might address through ordinance amendments after the one-year review is completed.

One, which would apply to Bartholomew’s rezoning request, is a loophole that allows multiple Middle Hosing structures on one lot for properties zoned RN-3 or RN-4. Crockett noted that the Middle Housing standards weren’t written with the intent of accommodating multiple primary structures on one lot.

“Currently, folks may apply to construct multiple primary structures on a lot zoned RN-3 or above in the (Traditional Neighborhood Residential) land use area, without additional standards to guide size, scale or building orientation,” she said.

Closing the loophole would seemingly block Bartholomew’s multiple-duplex proposal and other similar projects, even with the rezoning.

A second inconsistency involves non-conforming lots of record. Depending on the zoning, multi-unit structures could be built on lots without meeting lot width or area requirements. Crockett said that means developers in RN-3 and RN-4 zones can build as many structures as can fit, even on narrow lots, which could conflict with the standards’ goal of promoting neighborhood-scale houses.

A third issue is mixing single-family houses with Middle Housing types. Single-family homes and Middle Housing structures have different standards, and mixing them can create conflicts in zoning review, permitting, and enforcement.

“Additional clarification may be necessary to create a relationship between the two,” Crockett said.

Councilwoman Lauren Rider, whose 4th District in North Knoxville contained three of the early Middle Housing projects, said she hasn’t heard many complaints about the rollout of the Middle Housing plan but anticipated making revisions to it as more projects are built.

“I expected when we passed it there would be some tweaks,” she said. “That’s pretty standard.”

Robert Bentley Marlow Marlow Charities, Inc. Angelic Ministries Int.

10/10/2024

From Compass:

“East Tennessee Realtors is urging city voters to reject Referendum No. 2, which if adopted would establish a wholly at-large method of electing City Council members.

Voting “no” on the referendum would create a system in which only district voters can cast ballots for their district representatives on City Council. The three current at-large seats would be unchanged.

In a news release, East Tennessee Realtors said district Council members should be accountable to the needs of the unique neighborhoods in their districts and that passing the amendment would circumvent the intent of the state Legislature, which outlawed the system in place since 1969. The Realtors also noted that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 bars at-large voting in federal elections.

“East Tennessee Realtors works to proactively educate our members and the public, as part of our efforts to support policies that build strong communities, protect property rights and promote a vibrant business environment,” Justin Bailey, East Tennessee Realtors board president, said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to our members and their neighborhoods to amplify their voices and ensure they are heard and represented.”

Early voting begins Oct. 16 for the Nov. 5 general election.”

For more information visit: www.mydistrictmyvote.com

Why are we against At-Large Voting?

10/02/2024

Yesterday Carol Krispin and I collected items from Preservation Pub, Alec Bissell, Branden Johnson, and others loaded them into and after waiting for the clouds to break we took off. We initially tried to get to Sylvia, NC (24A) but the cloud ceilings in the mountain didn’t allow; we then found a path along the French Broad River valley into Asheville (KAVL)

Asheville airspace was busier than I’ve ever seen Atlanta’s! The tower is operating again and refused us permission to land. We then deviated and attempted to get to Spruce Pine (7A8) but the clouds just weren’t cooperating. We flew out of the mountains the same way we came in along the French Broad. The devastation is everywhere. In addition to the flooding there’s landslides, rockfalls, and altered river courses across the entire mountain region.

We ultimately took our supplies to Elizabethton (0A9) where the military is operating Black Hawks taking the supplies into the remote communities.

Once we unloaded we took on a mission for a friend of mine to overfly houses of his loved ones to see if the houses still exist and if they appeared intact near Burnsville, NC. Fortunately his loved ones houses appeared to be intact. The road into their community is gone due to a mud slide; the bridge across the river into the area is gone; and the power lines are all down for miles.

We then went to Greenville (KGCY) to see about picking up more supplies to ferry to Elizabethton but those folks have taken the initiative and had 2 good ole boys with 4x4 trucks pulling cattle trailers heading out with all the supplies there to get them to Newport.

We headed back to the hanger and prepped the plane for the next mission which we hope will be this afternoon. If the clouds lift we will go to Concord, NC (KJQF) to help ferry those supplies to smaller airports.

The President is visiting Asheville and Greenville today so that’ll shutdown all of us for several hours as POTUS means temporary no fly restrictions for 30nm radius around him today from 1-2:15pm.

This area is stressful to fly into—lots of traffic. Clouds are low; mountains are everywhere often with their tops still in the clouds. The airspace is super crowded. Black Hawks are everywhere. They were still performing and finding Search and Rescue operations. The radio chatter is constantly about needing another Helicopter here or there’s people needing to be picked up over there. Other planes are everywhere. But somehow it’s all working!

Memorable radio calls.

In Black Hawk crew chief volunteered to stay behind with nursing home residents assuring them more Black Hawks were coming and they weren’t going to be left.

Excited S&R radio chatter when they found a person alive and were able to get them into the helicopter.

Low pass recon reports from Black Hawk pilots reporting damage and the extent of the devastation as they got within 200 of the ground flying along the Nolichukcy River near Erwin. If you think my pictures (take about 1,500’ above the ground) look bad you have no idea how bad it is up close (judging by the descriptions given by this helicopter crew).

09/30/2024

Here’s the list of requested supplies. If the clouds permit I’m going to fly over to Asheville to drop what I leave from Tn with in the morning. Then I will be going to Hickory to pickup supplies that are amassing there to take to Asheville, Franklin, and Sylvia.

I can haul 250lbs-300lbs per flight.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kzsSna7nJeSqA5DF/?mibextid=WC7FNe

09/30/2024

I've registered to donate my time and aircraft to the cause of helping get critical supplies where they are needed. If you have a plane I urge you to volunteer too.

Volunteers and donations are being sought by Operation Airdrop for hard-hit Tennessee and North Carolina communities.