KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Knoxville City Council is expected to meet on July 25 to discuss a large agenda. Its items include proposals to help fund an affordable project, improve Sevier Ave. and appoint a former magistrate judge to an interim leadership position at the Knoxville Police Department.
The agenda also includes a proposal that would have the Knoxville City Council take the first step towards removing a special use requirement for duplexes built in some areas.
More information about the proposal on the agenda for July 25 is available below.
City council members will consider a resolution that formally requests the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission issue a recommendation to remove a requirement developers need to follow to build duplexes in some areas.
"A review by Knoxville-Knox County Planning may bring forth a recommendation that should be considered by the public, the Planning Commission, and City Council," the resolution says.
The "special use" application process effectively requires developers to submit additional paperwork when planning to build in some spots of the city or county. It is required if developers are building something not specifically allowed in the zone.
The resolution would effectively ask the Planning Commission to reconsider whether developers need to go through that application process when building duplexes in RN-2 Zones. That zone is for single-family residential neighborhoods, accommodating low-density on relatively small lots.
Currently, two-family dwellings are only allowed in the zone if developers go through the "special use" process.
A retired magistrate judge may soon serve in an interim leadership role at the Knoxville Police Department. Magistrate Judge H. Bruce Guyton is expected to step in to temporarily fill a role that was vacated only months after it was created.
He agreed to fill the role of interim deputy chief of professional standards, KPD said Wednesday. The role was created in late 2022 and previously filled by a former federal prosecutor, Brooklyn Belk.
According to the resolution, his contract would begin immediately on a month-to-month basis until a Deputy Chief of Professional Standards is hired. It would be for $12,500 per month — around $150,000 per year.
The price of the Sevier Avenue Streetscapes Improvement Project has risen, according to a resolution to be discussed on Tuesday. City council members will discuss whether to increase the contract amount by $60,045 to a new total of $506,475.
The resolution would also extend how long it is expected to take for the project to finish to Dec. 31, 2024. According to the city council, the project is linked to the 2006 "South Waterfront Vision Plan," meant to improve the city's waterfront along the river. The contract for the Sevier Ave. improvement project was originally set for $251,095.
It was changed at least five times before, between 2015 and 2020. The contract is with Johnson, Mirmiran and Thompson. Originally, it was with Vaughn and Melton Consulting Engineers, before the companies merged.
The contract said on Feb. 2, 2023, the city asked for workers to remove a proposed additional permanent drainage easement on Tract 39. The city also asked for the box culvert to be realigned so it could be built within the limits of the existing permanent drainage easement.
"Altering the design of the box culvert to remain within the constraints of the existing permanent drainage easement constitutes a design change that is additional to the original scope and intent set forth by the City. The effort includes design plan revisions for items such as culvert design, drainage, grading, right-of-way, construction method, quantities, and coordination," the contract says.
It discusses several other changes since when the city first signed the contract, including KUB fiber, and a street light luminaire that's no longer available.
City council members will also discuss whether to spend $500,000 from the Affordable Rental Development Fun to help fund the construction of Liberty Place. A total of $4 million is allocated for the fund, according to the resolution.
The project would create 32 affordable permanent supportive rental housing units at 3627 Division Street. The units would include one bedroom and one bathroom.
Funds would be provided to pay for actual construction costs, provided as a 30-year loan secured with a deed of trust. The resolution says 22 of the units will need to be for extremely low-income households, and ten would need to be for low-income households.
Crews are expected to start building the apartments in the third quarter of 2023 and finish by October 2024.