KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — On Monday, Knox County commissioners were expected to gather and vote on several different kinds of proposals. They included an anti-abortion treatment resolution declaring January as "Right to Life Month" and a large development expected to be built in the northwest part of the county.
Commissioners were also expected to vote on whether to demolish an abandoned high school, and whether to approve a lease with the Concord Yacht Club.
The meeting starts at 5 p.m. or immediately following the beer board in the City County Building.
A list of proposals is available below.
Commissioners were expected to vote on whether to approve the Belltown Planned Development Preliminary Plan. The Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission voted to conditionally approve the plan in December.
As part of the plan, developers would need to pay for improvements to West Emory Road, such as building a traffic light and they would also need to build crosswalks and turn lanes into the development. Developers would also need to limit the density of Belltown to no more than 1,200 residential units in most areas.
It would be built on more than 300 acres located between Karns and Powell, spilling over into Anderson County. The plans say most of the space would be used by single-family homes, on the northern side of West Emory Road.
On the southern side, Belltown would have around 93 acres made up of a mix of townhomes, multi-family apartments, commercial space and a park. The park would be around 40 acres large and would be turned over to Knox County for its management after the Legacy Parks Foundation develops trails and a kayak launch, according to reports.
Developers would eventually need to deed the public park for the foundation, or to a similar non-profit.
The plans were approved 9-2 Monday night. The developer will also need to maintain a nearby cemetery for 60 days. Commissioners Kim Frazier and Rhonda Lee voted against the plans.
Commissioners will also vote on whether to approve a resolution that would recognize "January as Right to Life Month in Knox County and honor the efforts of the Right to Life movement."
It is also explicitly meant to encourage anti-abortion treatment advocates to continue their efforts.
The resolution also said anti-abortion advocates acknowledge Jan. 22, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, as "National Sanctity of Human Life Day." The resolution was proposed by Commissioner Rhonda Lee, an attorney and new commissioner.
Two commissioners passed on the resolution during the county's work session.
The resolution passed on Monday.
Commissioners will consider approving a $786,200 contract with Modern Day Wrecking to demolish the abandoned Rule High School. The school is located in Northwest Knoxville.
"It's really beyond repair at this point," said Ben Sharbel, the supervisor of property development and asset management with Knox County procurement, in previous reporting.
Knox County obtained the abandoned school from the Knox County Schools system in 2016. It was not maintained for more than 30 years, and last year the county started the formal process to sell and redevelop the property.
Sharbel previously said those proposals asked for too much financial investment from the county. The city is already getting around $40 million from a grant to revitalize parts of the Western Heights Neighborhood - but the high school won't be part of the plan.
Sharbel also said the county will use American Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA) for the demolition. These are federal funds given to local governments to help them recover from the pandemic.
Information about when the demolition was expected to be complete was not immediately available.
Commissioners are expected to vote on whether to continue or change their lease with the Concord Yacht Club. The club is located at the Cove at Concord Park, and its docks have been used by many sailors on Fort Loudon Lake.
In October and during the work session before Monday's meeting, some commissioners pushed back on the lease renewal. Many questions whether the yacht club was the best use of the county-owned property, currently rented to the yacht club for $1,000 per year.
According to The Compass, Commissioner John Schoonmaker said the property is one of the county's premier locations and said that it can only be used by 230 members,
"Basically nobody in Knox County can use that unless you join a membership," he said, according to The Compass.
The club is only available to people if they are a member, which costs a $25 application fee as well as a $300 initiation fee for people 33 years old or older. They would also need to pay $230 for a membership bond certificate, and pay $396 in annual dues.
They will consider whether to renew the lease for a decade, with an option to renew the lease for another ten years.
The commission is also expected to consider whether they should move the management and operation of Concord Marina to Outdoors Concord, LLC with an Estoppel Certificate. That proposal also changes the boundaries and legal definition of the property.
The commission will also consider whether they should take the first step in what could be a decades-long process of building a new highway bypass around Knoxville.
They will vote on a resolution that would ask the Tennessee Department of Transportation and state legislators to examine the possibility for a new highway bypass.
Commissioner Larsen Jay previously said a bypass is needed to keep up with the growth of the city and county.
"I think those growth pains are a good thing, but they are things that you cannot ignore," Jay said.
Knoxville is located at a major crossroad for the East Coast, where I-40 and I-75 meet. He sees traffic as more development, more services and more goods for the region.
If traffic back-ups continue and get worst, he said people and businesses will not want to be in East Tennessee. For him, this resolution was a way to get ahead of the problem.
The bypass does not have an assigned location. Larsen said a large project like this can involve other counties, and take decades to complete as well as millions of dollars.
The resolution passed Monday night.