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Seven Days

Wednesday, February 19
Knoxville area Chamber Partnership head Mike Edwards announces he is cutting his salary from $150,000 to $75,000 to help balance his agency's budget. Edwards' suggestion that news reporters cut their own salaries in half to help balance their employers' budgets is given little media coverage.

Thursday, February 20
The Knox County school board votes not to consider a tract of land on George Williams Road in West Knox County for a new high school, in part because the property is too expensive. What the school board needs is some vacant, cheap land. How 'bout Coster Shop?

Friday, February 21
Preservationists breathe a sigh of at least temporary relief when they find that the mayor had the demolition permits for Lord Lindsey and the Temple house on Hill Avenue revoked on technicalities. Some of the devotees of Lord Lindsey are still preparing to throw themselves in front of a bulldozer, if the need arises.

Saturday, February 22
After several consecutive days of torrential downpours, Knoxville's television meteorologists begin to fear for their safety if they can't predict sunny weather soon.

Sunday, February 23
Oh, good. More rain!

Monday, February 24
Sun! Forecasters' lives are saved.

Tuesday, February 25
The News-Sentinel prints an account of the recent hockey exploits of Mike Murray, the Canadian-born Knoxvillian who manages River Islands Golf Course. It quotes the 36-year-old winger, who starred for the Knoxville Cherokees, played and coached for the Speed, and is now performing (out of shape) for the Ice Bears. "My first two shifts on Friday were a blur..." the N-S story says, leaving out the f in shifts. No shift.

Knoxville Found

(Click photo for larger image)

What is this? Every week in "Knoxville Found," we'll print the photo of a local curiosity. If you're the first person to correctly identify this oddity, you'll win a special prize plucked from the desk of the editor (keep in mind that the editor hasn't cleaned his desk in five years). E-mail your guesses, or send 'em to "Knoxville Found" c/o Metro Pulse, 505 Market St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Last Week's Photo:
We'll let reader and UT sculpture-studio shop technician Josh Werner explain last week's photo. "The over-sized shopping cart is a work by David Jones... Rumor has it David pushed it around the Wal-Mart parking lot for a video. Rumor also has it that female wrestling happened in it once. As of a few months ago, it was put out to pasture on the 'lawn' of 614 Twelfth street. I know this because I put it there."

UT psych prof Wes Morgan was first to identify the shopping cart. Normally, we wouldn't award Wes (a previous winner) a prize until we've damaged enough brain cells to forget that he'd won before. But Wes explained that the item "is almost across the street from where I lived 40 years ago (at 609 Twelth Street)." Because we at Knoxville Found are notoriously sentimental, we'll award both Wes and UT grad student Lisa Rimmell, our second correct respondent.

Each will each receive a copy of Meeting Wisdom, which "contains the absolute best sayings heard while attending over a decade of twelve-step meetings." With it, perhaps Wes and Lisa will finally stop seeing overgrown shopping carts.

Meet Your City
A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend

KNOXVILLE'S COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORP.
Thursday, Feb. 27
11:30 a.m.
FIC Bldg.
400 Harriet Tubman St.
Regular meeting of the KCDC board of commissioners.

KNOXVILLE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
Thursday, Feb. 27
3 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Regular meeting.

MAYOR'S NIGHT OUT
Monday, March 3
5 p.m.
West Haven Elementary School
3620 Sisk Road
The public is welcome to bring concerns and questions to the mayor and his staff.

CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, March 4
7 p.m.
City County Bldg. Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Regular meeting.

...By Any Other Name
KCDC struggles with 'blight'

What constitutes "blight?" That was the crux of discussion Feb. 20, at the KCDC Jackson Ave./Depot St. Redevelopment Project Advisory Committee meeting. At issue is one part of KCDC 's redevelopment plan for the area roughly defined by Broadway to the west, Magnolia Avenue to the north, Central Street to the east, and Vine Avenue to the south. KCDC has designated as blighted 17 properties within that area. By requiring property owners to submit redevelopment proposals for the properties (with the implicit threat of eminent domain being used to seize a property should an owner fail to comply), KCDC hopes to spur revitalization in the area.

At the meeting, a quorum of the advisory committee voted to uphold KCDC's designation of "blighted" for all 17 properties. Contesting that designation were representatives of two property owners (Chaskin Wells Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp.) as well as a business owner who rents property from Chaskin Wells. (Mark Siegel, attorney for Chaskin Wells, also represents Mark Saroff, owner of several other properties cited for blight in the project area. Siegel asked for a stay of decision on Saroff's properties, including the McClung Warehouses on Jackson Ave. [shown in photo]; his request was denied.)

As reason to rescind the designation, both Siegel and Emily Thompson, local counsel for Norfolk Southern, cited differences between the definition of "blighted" in the Tennessee Code Annotated and that used by KCDC. According to the Tennessee Code, "'Blighted areas' are areas (including slum areas) with buildings or improvements which, by reason of dilapidation, obsolescence, overcrowding, faulty arrangement or design, lack of ventilation, light and sanitary facilities, excessive land coverage, deleterious land use, or obsolete layout, or any combination of these or other factors, are detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community."

Although the designation of blight identified by KCDC generally parallels the description in the code, KCDC's designation is separated into 12 distinct elements:

a. Roofing leaks, shingles missing, holes, etc.
b. Unpaved/unstriped parking service
c. Exterior wall deterioration, peeling/chipped paint, deferred maintenance
d. Windows missing or boarded up
e. Unfit for human habitation, fire hazard, infestation, or unsafe conditions
f. Rubbish, garbage, debris, trash, weeds, grass cover, potential for rodents
g. No light or ventilation
h. Roof or wall collapse/cracks
i. Damaged or deteriorating building access, steps, ramps, loading areas etc.
j. Damaged and deteriorating fencing
k. Long-term vacancy, boarded-up
l. Weatherization problems with windows, doors, or frames

As applied by the advisory committee, only one of the 12 elements had to exist on a property for it to be considered blighted. Both Siegel and Mason argued that defining any property as blighted that had one or even a few of the lesser elements, such as unpainted/unpaved parking lots, trash, or peeling paint, was not fair to the property owner. Both also argued that KCDC had not shown that their clients' properties were blighted as defined under the Tennessee Code. That is, KCDC had not shown that they were "detrimental to the safety, health, morals, or welfare of the community."

Although KCDC had cited several of the properties for numerous blight elements, the Chaskin Wells property, at 205 W. Jackson Ave., had only two, c. and i.

Heuristic Workshop owner Carl Keaney, who leases the building in question from Chaskin Wells, argued, "I believe the blight designation is based solely on the [unused] wooden loading dock" on one side of the building. Keaney acknowledged the deteriorating condition of the dock but said, "given time, we will fix it...working with Chaskin Wells." To force his company to make those improvements at this time would impose an unnecessary financial hardship, he said.

After discussion, the advisory committee voted (with one "nay" vote) to uphold the blight designation for the Chaskin Wells property. The vote to keep the blighted designation was unanimous on Norfolk Southern's as well as all other properties. Committee Chairman Bill Lyons pointed out that it was not the committee's duty or place to decide the justice or fairness of the designations, only to "decide whether the properties are blighted under the criteria that [the committee has already agreed upon]." Lyons went on to say that all the owners may still appeal the designation at the March 27 meeting of the full KCDC board.

After the meeting, Siegel said that, if the criteria for "blighted" that the advisory committee used were applied to many other well-maintained properties outside the redevelopment zone, those properties might also be considered blighted. And, while not indicating that his client would pursue such a course of action, Siegel noted that the discrepancies between KCDC's definition of blight and that in the Tennessee Code could be the basis for a legal challenge of KCDC's blight designation. But Dan Tiller, chief development officer of KCDC, said "the important words [in the Tennessee Code] are 'these or other factors.' The Tennessee Code is not going to list every single element of blight. 'Or other factors' allows us to use our own judgment."

The committee's next step is to begin developing criteria for evaluating blight remedy/redevelopment plans for the properties. These plans, originally given an April 10 deadline, are now to be due June 30. The committee will discuss criteria for the plans at their March 14 meeting, with the intent of communicating the criteria to property owners in mid-April. More information on the Jackson Ave./Depot St. Redevelopment Project may be found at www.kcdc.org/redevelopment/jacksondepot/index.htm.

—Scott McNutt