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Halls Decked
The prospect of a liquor store at a school bus stop in the heart of Baptist-heavy Halls is aggravating old resentments against the city of Knoxville. The store, which hasn't even opened yet, will be located on a parcel of property on Maynardville Highway that was spot-annexed at the request of the owner in 1997. Under state law, liquor stores cannot operate outside the city limits of the nearest municipality.
Harvey Bowman IV, operator of the Vestal Package Store, is planning to transfer his license to the Halls store, which will sit on property owned by the family of Sequoyah Hills resident Archie Ellis. Led by Murphy Hills resident Hollis Walker, the unwilling neighbors-to-be of the proposed liquor store sought to block City Council from giving Bowman the Certificate of Good Moral Character necessary for state approval of the transfer. They hoped a 1993 citation and subsequent guilty plea to selling liquor to a minor would do the trick. Although such charges may be considered if they occur within the past 10 years, John King, the Ellis/Bowman lawyer, argued on June 13 that the charge had been dismissed (which it had) and the record expunged (which it hadn't).
The issue was postponed for two weeks, during which King went to court and got General Sessions Judge Chuck Cerny to, guess what?
Did you guess expunge the record?
Yup.
At the June 27 meeting, King announced the expungement and drew the wrath of City Councilwoman Carlene Malone, who accused him of "unringing the bell" and was the sole "no" vote on granting the necessary certificate. City attorneys advised there was no legal basis to deny the certificate (something which was also said regarding the beer permit application for the Platinum Lounge earlier this year, and which Council disregarded).
Sen. Ben Atchley checked into the problem and discovered that the state has no choice but to issue the certificate once City Council acted, giving new meaning to a familiar marketing slogan: Halls has it.
Down to Earth
A few weeks ago, we mentioned that Volunteer Ministry Center was talking with Regas Brothers about possibly moving into their recently closed Gay Street restaurant.
Well, it turns out other people are also eyeing the location—including an upscale, natural grocery chain called Earth Fare. Based in Asheville, N.C., the chain specializes in "clean" groceries and produce—in other words, low on additives and chemicals, as well as unhealthy things like hydrogenated oils, says president and CEO Mike Cianciarulo. But that's not all. Earth Fare also includes an upscale, cafeteria-style restaurant, sushi bar, and other amenities.
Earth Fare might shake up the fiercely competitive supermarket scene, and pose a serious threat to the beloved, non-profit Knoxville Community Food Co-op. A grocer is also just what downtown residents have been dying for. However, they should not get too excited. The company is also eyeing more suburban locations, including a plaza on Morrell Road, Cianciarulo says. But an Earth Fare executive paid a visit to Grady Regas to talk about the Gay Street space.
"There was concern that there would not be enough residential base downtown to support this," Regas told the Council of Involved Neighborhoods at its Monday night meeting.
Regas is urging anyone who is interested to register their opinion in an online poll being sponsored by the K2K Internet discussion group. He believes that the Regas building is uniquely suited to house Earth Fare because it has kitchen facilities and plenty of parking and market space.
The idea of getting a grocery store in the building started with Jack O'Hanlon, who lives and runs a business in an across-the-street building on Gay Street, and who was not particularly enamored of the idea of converting the space into a homeless shelter. Steve Dupree, an employee of O'Hanlon's commercial lighting company, thinks the location is a lousy one for the VMC.
"The homeless don't have a great need for parking, last time I checked," he says.
But O'Hanlon and Dupree can probably rest at ease. The Volunteer Ministry Center appears to be giving up on the building for its future home.
"We don't have the money," says VMC executive director Ginny Weatherstone. "The bottom line is, we can't afford it. And I wish we could."
July 13, 2000 * Vol. 10, No. 28
© 2000 Metro Pulse
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