Council vote on midway sale could be postponed
By Mike Steely
Senior Writer
steelym@knoxfocus.com
When the Knoxville City Council meets tonight, most of the attention was to be on the discussion and vote on selling part of Chilhowee Park to the Emerald Youth Foundation. The proposed sale came up two weeks ago and was postponed.
Last week, Councilwoman Gwen McKenzie held a public meeting on the topic, and most of the large crowd that attended were against the sale of the former midway section across the street from the main park. The Focus learned Thursday that McKenzie will suggest another two-week postponement on the discussion and vote.
The agenda refers to the proposal by the administration so Emerald can “serve youth and families throughout east Knoxville and the broader community by providing educational enrichment, sports, wellness and other activities.”
The council seems divided on the sale, with some as surprised about the idea as many members of the East Knoxville community were.
The council also has several rezonings on its agenda, including residential classification changes requested for properties at Zero Keck Road and 118 Twentieth Street. It is being asked to remove the previous zoning at 962 North Gallaher View Road and to rezone 4913 Rowan Road and Zero Inskip Road from RN-1 to RN-2 residential.
Property at Zero Gallaher View Road will be zoned regional commercial if approved. A general commercial zoning change is being requested for property at 2814 Dresser Road.
The council may give final approval to add “Patio Use Agreements” to beer permits by special request.
The council will vote to accept $23,950 from the Fire Fighters’ Association to supply the department’s “Learn Not To Burn” program to educate children about fire safety. Public Consulting Group LLC may be hired for professional consulting service for the fire department.
A state grant of $832,125 may be approved for Knoxville Area Transit, and Galbraith School’s Adaptive Reuse Planned Development initiative may get approval as well.
