NEW MARKET, Tenn. — A proposal to bring a men's residential restoration program to Jefferson County did not pass the county's Regional Planning Commission on Tuesday after county leaders said the plans did not meet zoning requirements.
The program would have been in New Market, at an equestrian farm. Knox Area Rescue Ministries was planning to buy around 170 acres in the River Glen area of New Market to start a program similar to the "Serenity" program. That program helps women in Knoxville looking for a safe place to recover from addiction, domestic violence and homelessness through a biblically-based residential program.
Neighbors in the community said they were concerned about having a program like this in the area, and said the county did not have the infrastructure or resources to support it. The men's program would have been long-term for men who passed through interviews, mental and emotional assessments and background screenings.
"We just really need a lot of answers," said Lisa Salmons, a community member in New Market. "It's very, very much rural. Very much farming, a lot of these are long-term, several-century farm families."
The KARM program would have housed men for between a year and 18 months. They initially picked the New Market location as a way to help men escape the city.
"That is what we are trying to do, help people who are homeless and want to move back where they can be themselves," said Ben Mullins, an attorney representing KARM.
Some neighbors also said they were concerned that the program could have brought safety issues to the community.
"No county is nowhere near prepared to serve what they're wanting to bring," said David Seals, another neighbor in the area.
KARM can still choose to take the project to the Board of Zoning Appeals after the planning commission denied it.