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Seven Days

Wednesday, June 18
Former Mayor Randy Tyree bows out of this year's race for mayor without ever really getting into it. The move, however, paves the way for Tyree to become a candidate for mayor in 2007 without ever really getting into the campaign.

Thursday, June 19
The Associated Press reports that the parents of a 9-year-old spina bifida victim have gone to federal court in Chattanooga to try to keep Jasper city officials from taking the girl's pet miniature horse, the size of a large dog, away from her home under an ordinance prohibiting horses within the city limits. The city hired a Knoxville lawyer to defend its case. Is our reputation that insensitive, really?

Friday, June 20
Incoming UT Athletic Director Mike Hamilton says the department is applying for Cherokee Country Club memberships for himself and the top coaches and the women's athletic director. Proof at last that Doug Dickey is really leaving the AD post next month!

Saturday, June 21
Knoxville's Saturday Night on the Town comes off without a hitch. It doubles as a farewell for the thousands of bikers who attended the Honda Hoot here last week. Next year, promoters say, crash helmets will not be required to attend the event.

Sunday, June 22
The American Bowling Congress ends its six-month-long tournament, which brought tens of thousands of bowlers to the Knoxville Convention Center. Who knew?

Monday, June 23
The University of Tennessee reacts to a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the principal of affirmative action to achieve racial diversity on college campuses. Officials at UT are heard to ask what affirmative action is... and how it affects football.

Tuesday, June 24
UT football coach Phillip Fulmer announces that a promising fullback from Memphis is off the team for failing substance abuse tests. So, what did the kid really do to hack Phil off?

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:
Although she "bet everybody in Sequoyah Hills will answer this one!" and she did, indeed, have much company in responding, Tina Inge Bentrup of Knoxville was first to identify last week's Knoxville Found photo. The picture in question is of the keystone of the arch to the walking trail on Cherokee Boulevard, just off of Kingston Pike. The keystone sports a relief of a figure on a horse, perhaps the neighborhood's namesake, Sequoyah? Or perhaps not.

In any event, Tina's reward for her alacrity is a yo-yo emblazoned with the outpost.com name and logo. The world is, after all, full of ups and downs.

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

KCDC BOARD MEETING
Thursday, June 26
11:30 a.m.
Northgate Terrace Social Hall *4301 Whittle Springs Road
Regular meeting.

KNOXVILLE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
Thursday, June 26
3 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Regular meeting.

TDOT PUBLIC HEARING FOR DOWNTOWN I-40 PROJECT
Thursday, June 26
4-7 p.m.
Pellissippi State Magnolia Campus
1610 Magnolia Ave.
TDOT officials will be at this open house; the public is encouraged to attend to ask questions and give opinions on the project.

More Students?
Will the need for more housing ever end?

A local developer hopes to break ground in two months on a student condominium project on Laurel Avenue in the heart of Fort Sanders, even as a 12-story student apartment complex is under construction a block away.

On the other side of the neighborhood, plans are in the works for a 12-unit housing complex near Neely Produce. The projects come just a couple of years after Texas-developer JPI, which built hundreds of units sprinkled around the neighborhood.

However, the flurry of housing projects doesn't mean there'll soon be a glut of student housing projects, says Bob Latimer, president of University Real Estate, who is constructing Laurel Station on the 1500 block of Laurel Avenue.

"The University of Tennessee has not built a new dormitory in at least 25 or 30 years. Most universities don't want to be in the housing business," Latimer says.

Laurel Station will be similar to other condominium projects that Latimer has built around UT, including Franklin Station and Kingston Place. Including 33 units, each condo will have two baths and three bedrooms and sell for about $139,000.

Latimer says condominiums are a growing trend in student housing, because the parents can write off the mortgage interest and property taxes and resell the condo after their student graduates. With a three-bedroom unit, they can rent the other rooms to their child's friends and cover most of the mortgage payments, he says. "The parents have a return on their money," he says.

Latimer first built condominiums in the UT area in the 1980s, as well as universities around the Southeast.

The design of Laurel Station meets the new Fort Sanders historic guidelines. "I thought it was a well-done project. The design is sensitive to the surrounding area. It followed the intent of the design guidelines for Fort Sanders," says Buz Johnson, acting executive director of the Metropolitan Planning Commission.

The development will have a brick wall lining the sidewalk, wood shingles, picket railings around the porches and decks, and setbacks consistent with traditional houses on the street. The style is similar to that of condominiums recently constructed at Highland Avenue and 16th Street.

Randall De Ford, president of the Historic Fort Sanders Neighborhood Association and a neighbor to the condos, complimented the developers for getting input on the design.

"I have mixed emotions about it. I don't feel like it's the best thing for the neighborhood or the site, but that's just the way it is," he says.

De Ford would like to see development aimed at people other than students. "The time is right, and there's a dearth of housing for professional folks and empty nesters interested in living in the center city," De Ford says. "From this neighborhood, you can walk to every major cultural event that happens in Knoxville, so this neighborhood is prime for that type of development."

But aside from some professors or grad students, Latimer didn't see much of a housing market beyond students in the Fort. "The student market is like a ferris wheel, it just keeps going round and round," Latimer says.

It's difficult to know whether these new student housing options are meeting the need of a growing student population or merely attracting students from older, less attractive apartment complexes.

In recent years, there's been a flurry of construction, starting with the JPI apartments. The UT Foundation is also constructing a 232-unit high rise at Clinch and White Avenues, which is expected to open in August 2004.

—Joe Tarr

Council Update
More candidates line up for primary races

Charles Thomas didn't make up his mind to run for City Council until just prior to last week's filing deadline for the Sept. 30 primary election. But even as a late entrant, he represents a serious contender for At-Large Seat A on which Joe Bailey had appeared to have a virtual lock.

Thomas is a 48-year old lawyer who is also president of the Greenway Coalition, active in the Oakwood/Lincoln Park neighborhood association, and a downtown devotee. "I have a lot of other obligations, but various people kept telling me I'd be a pretty good candidate, so I decided to give it a try," he says.

Thomas' candidacy will have a very different emphasis than Bailey's. "Primarily my interest is the neighborhoods, but I don't view that and development as mutually exclusive," he says. While Bailey insists he's "not the developer candidate," he's widely perceived to be.

One form of development against which Thomas rails is sprawl. "Sprawl is bad, and we're one of the worst. Instead of sprawling outward, we need to be working on infill and overcoming urban blight." To accentuate his point, Thomas says he would have opposed city funding of Parkside Drive, which paved the way for the Turkey Creek development.

One issue on which the two candidates are in agreement is the importance of downtown redevelopment. "Hopefully, revitalizing downtown will make the city more attractive, bring in more businesses, higher paying jobs, more cultural events and everything else that makes a city viable," Thomas says. But he's reserving judgment on one undertaking Bailey backs: namely, city support for a new convention center hotel. ("That's something I'm going to have to give a lot of study.")

Thomas puts a lot of emphasis on "public involvement, public access to elected officials, and public participation in decision making.... The old way of being dictated to from the top down hasn't proved to be successful."

He also stresses that he's "a big supporter of KAT and the trolley system, and I usually take the bus or ride my bike to work."

Another candidate whom Metro Pulse overlooked in last week's cover story on City Council elections is Mostafa Alsharif. The 22-year old Alsharif, a recent UT graduate, is running for At-Large Seat C in a field that also includes Nicholas Ciparro, Dewey Roberts III and Marilyn Roddy.

Alsharif, who is a Knoxville native and lives with his parents in West Hills, is devoting full time to his Council race, campaigning door-to-door, attending events and the like. In general, he says that his decision to run was driven by "dedication to the city and a desire to see positive change."

In particular, he says, "I'm interested in seeing a Danny Mayfield park as well as wise spending of Empowerment Zone funds. I also support the living wage and environmental sustainability, starting with a resumption of the city's recycling program." Downtown revitalization is another emphasis. "The renovation of the Tennessee Theatre needs to be finished, and a downtown cinema will attract UT students," he says.

Yet another Council candidate is Alonzo Montgomery, who is running for At-Large Seat B. Montgomery is a 45-year-old self-described "Mr. Mom," a single parent to a 17-year-old daughter.

When asked why he's running, Montgomery responds, "Because I'm the best man for the job. I can help get the city back where it needs to be. We need to stop ridiculous spending, like proposing all this money for parks and recreation when we can't even give our employees the raise they are due."

Montgomery is a regular attendee and frequent speaker at both City Council and County Commission meetings. "We need for the city and the county to come together on things like development of the State Street site," he says. He's also a proponent of a downtown cinema and more parking.

—Joe Sullivan