Historic Overlay Ordinance in Danger of Becoming a "Toothless Cow" 

By: Kim Davis (Old North Knoxville webmaster)

Update, December 10, 2004: Demolition crews began tearing down the 8,000-square-foot Italian Renaissance Revival style mansion last night.  It appears that none of the valuable architectural features of the house (see pictures below) are being salvaged.   Read more

For previous updates, scroll to the end of this article.

Background

In 1992, Old North Knoxville officially became designated as a Historic District, with an "H-1 Overlay" being placed over a subsection of the neighborhood shown in this map.  Much of the Old North Knoxville neighborhood is an H-1 historic overlay district. The overlay includes Scott, Oklahoma, Armstrong, part of Harvey, Kenyon, Folsum, Fremont, Glenwood and other cross streets between the alleys west of Scott and east of Oklahoma, and Grainger and Leonard Place east of Broadway. This overlay assures that our historic architecture is protected by regulating construction, repair, alteration, rehabilitation, relocation or demolition of any building or other structure which is located within the boundaries of the overlay, or proposed for an H-1 Historic Overlay District.  This district is not intended, however, to regulate the use of land, buildings or structures.  

The protection afforded by this zoning procedure is currently in danger of becoming watered down, thanks to the Cherokee Country Club, which filed a lawsuit against the City of Knoxville.  This lawsuit dealt with Cherokee's contention that it is their right, as property owners, to tear down the Coughlin House (pictured) to make way for a parking lot, despite H-1 overlay zoning having been filed for this property.  

The Coughlin House, located at 5305 Lyons View Drive, was built in 1916 as the house of J. Allen Smith, founder of the White Lily Flour Company.  Cherokee bought this property in 1999 for $1.06 million, and assessed each member of the club a fee of $2,000 to offset the cost of this purchase.  This could be the third historic home demolished by the club - the Howard house was demolished for parking, and the Powell Smith House (a 1913 Charles Barber design built for J. Allen Smith's son) which was demolished for the tennis center.

Former Mayor Victor Ashe filed the application January 16, 2002 with the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) seeking historic overlay zoning for the Coughlin House (then zoned Single Family Residential) and two other houses in the area. It should be noted that prior to the club's purchase of the house, both the City and the MPC wrote the club to say that, in essence, they would use whatever means necessary to oppose the demolition of the Smith House.  When Burnett Demolition and Salvage Company, the contractor hired by the country club (and the same company that is now taking heat for having illegally disposed of hazardous soil from a State Superfund site in area sinkholes) asked for a demolition permit on February 20, city officials rejected the request.  This was due to the 180-day moratorium on demolitions for properties being considered for historic zoning. Charles Wagner, attorney for Cherokee Country Club, then proceeded to do his best Claude Rains impression saying how "SHOCKED, SHOCKED" he was over the historic zoning request, despite the heads up on this possibility (in the form of a July 6, 1999 letter from Mayor Ashe) before the title was transferred on July 20, 1999.  Basically, the club had speculated that despite this warning, their power and influence would allow them to do whatever they wanted with this property.  They were astounded when they found they were not getting their way.

Even more interesting is the fact that Cherokee must have been confident that they could obtain commercial zoning for the property (since its intended use was for parking) from the City, who was fighting them every step of the way.  It could be construed that the purchase of the residential property before obtaining commercial zoning was a poor business decision, in the first place.  Especially since the club was given the chance to sell the house on September 21, 1999, for an amount equal to 100% of their investment. (The club board turned this offer down.)

Although Mayor Ashe initiated the fight to save the Smith/Coughlin House, Knoxville's new Mayor, Bill Haslam, has gone on record saying that his administration, "will work with property owners in any way we can to see that our historic structures are preserved."  Mayor Haslam resigned from the club in February of 2003.

A Chancery Court hearing occurred April 9, 2002 on the lawsuit the club has filed seeking to demolish the house. This was for Cherokee's suit against the City over the Lyons View H-1, and was held in Judge Workman's court.  Judge Workman ruled that the city has no constitutional standing to impose a moratorium on demolition, pending Council action on Historic Overlay zoning.  This ruling caused very dire implications for future attempts at protecting Knoxville's historic architecture via this zoning mechanism.  Essentially, this will mean that any time the City initiates an H-1, an opposing property owner may obtain a demolition permit and demolish the targeted building before the H-1 gets through the approval process. 

On June 6, 2002, the Metro Pulse reported that the Junior League of Knoxville was working to raise the $1.2 million ostensibly needed to restore the house, with the intention of converting the 2nd floor to its headquarters and the 1st floor to Cherokee's golf pro shop.  Had this arrangement been agreed upon, Cherokee would have demolished the existing pro shop (a newer structure of no historical significance) and used that spot for the parking lot.  Story here.  However, on June 14, 2002, Mayor Ashe posted a message on the newsgroup k2k that Cherokee had turned down the Junior League proposal and a letter has gone to all club members urging them to attend city council on June 25 to oppose the pending H-1 overlay vote that night.  He warned to "expect another end run by the club in Nashville on June 19 while the media attention is on taxes," referring to surreptitious efforts to push a bill through (attached to a larger tax-related piece of legislation) that would gut H-1 overlays throughout the state.  

On June 25, 2002, The Knoxville City Council voted 6-to-3 to uphold the Metropolitan Planning Commission's recommendation to place a historic overlay over the Smith/Coughlin House and two residences in a proposed Lyons View Historic District.  Emotions were running high during the meeting; a pro-demolition woman was reported to have slapped an Old North Knoxville resident in the back after being asked to refrain from talking loudly with her companion during the council's discussion of the matter.

On July 8, 2002,  final approval for the H-1 Overlay for the Lyons View Pike area was given on the Knoxville City Council's second reading.  The vote was 6-to-3, again. Click here for the Metropulse's article on the meeting, called "Historic Occasion."

In a classic exchange reported in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, Charles Wagner (Cherokee's attorney) said about the demolition, "The board unanimously voted to take the steps that were necessary to take Cherokee Country Club into the 21st century."  Michael Kelly, City law director, responded, "If tearing down the J. Allen Smith House to make way for a parking lot is going to take Cherokee Country Club into the 21st century, then put me back into the 19th." 

Update, September 16, 2002: Cherokee Country Club filed a second suit August 23 against the City over the action taken on the H-1 overlay by City Council.  In order to justify demolition under the H-1 zoning, CCC will be required to hire a professional engineer to certify that the building has changed significantly for the worse since July 8, 2002, when the H-1 zoning was approved.  Then they will have to file a Certificate to demolish the building with the Historic Zoning Commission (HZC). So far, they have not filed anything with the HZC.

CCC representatives maintain that the H-1 designation has caused an undue "hardship" for the club, although it is reported that CCC spent $104,000 to fight the H-1 designation for the Smith/Coughlin house and to lobby the Tennessee House and Senate for legislation to kill all future historic zoning throughout the state (now known as the "Haynes Amendment").

Update, November 15, 2002: The Tennessee Preservation Trust announced today that the Smith/Coughlin house made the list of the state's ten most endangered historic places.

Update, March 21, 2003: The appealed case to prevent Cherokee Country Club's demolition of the Smith/Coughlin House was heard in Nashville before Judge Holly K. Lillard March 20; ruling is pending.  Cherokee attorney Charles Wagner again claimed amnesia regarding previous warnings from the City and MPC about demolition before the club bought the house, saying that the club "didn't know what was happening" when the City adopted the 180-day moratorium ordinance to prevent the demolition of the house while H-1 zoning was being considered.  

Update, October 16, 2003: Reversing a lower court decision, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Cherokee Country Club cannot tear down an 87- year-old mansion on its Lyons View Pike grounds. Read more

Update, February 23, 2004: Cherokee Country Club has asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to consider the case of the historic Smith/Coughlin House. The city of Knoxville has asked it not to and to instead allow a Court of Appeals decision stand. Read more

Update, November 22, 2004: Cherokee Country Club wins their appeal at the Tennessee Supreme Court on the J. Allen Smith house. Justice E. Riley Anderson reversed the Court of Appeals’ judgment and reinstated the trial court’s judgment, after determining that the ordinance was a zoning regulation that was not enacted in accordance with statutory zoning requirements or the Tennessee Historic Zoning Act. It is uncertain what will happen next. Read the court document here and the News-Sentinel story here.