Historic Old North Knoxville

On November 8, 2000, members of the Old North Knoxville neighborhood met with Mayor Victor Ashe, City Director of Development Doug Berry (who resigned January 24, 2001), City Council representative Larry Cox, and head of codes enforcement, Ken Flynn. The lunchtime meeting took place at the Steamboat restaurant. The notes from this meeting are below. Answers from the city officials are given in italics. (Some questions were unanswered, because everyone was busy chewing.)

Neighborhood Concerns:

Lot on 128 East Scott:

Owner does not maintain lot- not mowed, rotting logs, empty buildings are a fire hazard and hiding place for prostitutes and vagrants.
Better Building Board gave the owner 60 days to make improvements at an October meeting, but the owner has not taken action to make improvements and probably will not.
Ken Flynn stated that if the owner does not make required improvements to structures on 128 East Scott within the 60 days, the city will level the buildings.

Kenjo store on corner of North Central/East Scott

Trash from Kenjo parking lot litters the street and yards of homes on East Scott.
Ken Flynn stated that he would speak with the owner/manager of Kenjo regarding assigning employees of the store “litter pick-up” duties.

Enforcement of H-1 Overlay guidelines

The city’s current enforcement practices are not adequate.
Owners of historic homes are getting around H-1 guidelines by doing inappropriate work without permits because they know that the penalties are small.
Examples were given of work that people had done on homes without the proper permits.
The city is issuing permits for inappropriate work on historic homes.
What good is the H-1 designation if it is not enforced by the city?
Doug Berry stated that a new computer system for issuing work permits will prevent issuance of inappropriate permits in H-1 areas.
Doug Berry encouraged neighbors to call MPC immediately when construction on a historic home is observed – ask if there is a permit and if the H-1 is noted.
When construction on a home is done without a permit, the city must decide if it should bring the case to court.

Bell South pulled out original granite curbstones on Harvey, Folsom and Oklahoma. They said that they would replace by April and have not.

Mayor Ashe suggested that ONK write a letter to Jerry Moates at Bell South, cc a copy to the Mayor.

Signage on Glenwood is incorrect.

Decorative streetlights.

The city agreed to put up streetlights at a cost to ONK of $1000 per light. Six lights were installed at this cost. The city came back with a new cost of $4000 per light.
ONK would like to install 2 lights per year, but cannot pay $4000 per light.
Why did the cost increase so dramatically?

Condemned structures

Condemned structures are a hazard to the people who live in them and to their neighbors.
Why can’t the city evict individuals who live in condemned structures so that the buildings can be restored or demolished
Ken Flynn stated that state law prohibits eviction from owner occupied residences.
State law allows for the removal of apartment residents from a home in case of codes violation.
Due to state law, the city also cannot force sale of home for delinquent taxes.
State law restricts fines that the city can impose for codes violations to $50.
Mayor Ashe suggested that ONK representatives meet with Harry Tindell or Tim Burchette regarding these State imposed restrictions.

Tax relief to encourage renovation of historic owner occupied homes.

Mayor Ashe stated that State law does not permit tax relief for this purpose.
State law does imply that localities have the option to waive taxes for renovation in “Enterprise Zones.” The City is discussing this in relation to the “Empowerment Zone” designation.

Other Discussion

Doug Berry discussed a “Brownfield Initiative” that will focus on the redevelopment of the Coster Shop area. His office is currently discussing the redevelopment of the area from Heiskell to Woodland, including the possibility of turning Central into four lanes. Technical experts will study the area to develop a proposal. Meetings will be assembled with the surrounding neighborhoods to “refine” the proposal. (Note from webmaster: click here to see the Metro Pulse story on this.)