KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The City of Knoxville Planning Commission is set to vote Thursday night to rezone the Open Space land adjacent Caswell Park on East 5th Avenue.
The goal is to give a portion of the space to the Volunteer Ministry Center to create 47 units of supportive housing. The center is planning a housing project for the homeless, but the loss of part of the park is getting some pushback from the community.
A petition called "Protect our city park land from development!" was posted to Change.org by Christopher Salmons about the possible rezoning.
People got a chance to voice their opinion on the matter.
A pubic meeting took place Monday, Sept. 23, at the Knoxville Area Urban League in the Community Room.
Some think there would be better places nearby for the project so it doesn't take away from the park.
"The city is choosing to take public park land to build it, when at the same time there is other city own property two blocks away that is not public park land, and they haven't considered that and they are not taking community input," Parkridge resident Greta Schmoyer said.
A spokesperson for VMC said the reason the park site is desirable is because it meets other needs like public transportation.