VOL. 8 NO. 51
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‘ROUND TOWN
December 24, 2014
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Ten lords a’leaping
➤ Days off
Farragut Town Hall offices will be closed today through Friday and on Jan. 1. The office will have regular business hours Dec. 29-31, and resume the normal hours on Friday, Jan. 2. Town Hall is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Town Hall serves as the main office of the town of Farragut departments and has meeting rooms, a community room (available for rent by nonprofit groups), the Farragut Folklife Museum, Museum Gift Shop, Farragut Memorial Plaza and as satellite offices for the Knox County clerk and sheriff. All Knox County offices are located on the second floor. To stay in touch with what is happening at town hall, visit the web page at www. townoffarragut.org. Online, the town has a media page through Facebook and Twitter and posts pictures of town events on Instagram, Flickro and YouTube. On television, information on various committees, agendas and special events can be seen on Charter channel 193 and TDS channel 3. The Board of Mayor and Aldermen and Municipal Planning Commission meetings are broadcasted live on the second, third and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 p.m. and are rebroadcasted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. For more information about how to get connected, contact public relations coordinator Chelsey Riemann at chelsey. riemann@townoffarragut.org or 966-7057.
➤ Upcoming at
Town Hall Farragut/Knox County Schools Education Relations – 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6 Farragut Arts Council – 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 6 Economic Development Committee – 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7 Stormwater Advisory Committee – 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 Town of Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen – 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 Personnel Committee – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20 Town of Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen – 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan 22
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There’s something for everyone at The Cove at Concord Park during Knox County’s Holiday Festival of Lights. Take the ¾-mile walking trail to explore an array of lights that gets better each year. Hours are 6-9 p.m. except Christmas Day. More photos on page A-3.
FMPC denies zoning to Grigsby Chapel facility By Wendy Smith The people spoke, and the Farragut Municipal Planning Commission listened. A zoning change that would have allowed a proposed assisted-living facility on Grigsby Chapel Road to move forward was denied by the commission after numerous citizens spoke against it. Before the floor was opened for public comment, the commission discussed how to best restrict the development of the 25-acre property if it was rezoned from R-2 and R-4 to R-6, which would allow both apartments and elderly housing. Ross Bradley of TDK Construction Co. reiterated that he had no intention of building apartments at the site, but commission wanted to safeguard the property if it changed hands. Bradley has purchased the option to buy the property. After a discussion of how to create a deed re-
striction that would rule out apartments, Commissioner Noah Myers suggested that the staff craft a new zoning district specifically for senior living and simply rezone the property. He then opened the floor for comments. Most were the same concerns voiced at last month’s meeting − traffic, noise, flooding and commercial intrusion. Other residents were concerned that, since an assistedliving facility can’t provide medical care, emergency vehicles and helicopters would be frequently required. Several homeowners’ organizations brought petitions signed by residents opposed to the development. Harold Cannon, president of Cannon & Cannon, defended a traffic study completed by his employee Alan Childers, who spoke at last month’s meeting. Childers reported that a senior living facility would
Kristi Hulsey of Village Green subdivision speaks in opposition to an assistedliving facility on Grigsby Chapel Road. Photo by Wendy Smith
produce less traffic than if the property was built out at current zoning. Citizens verbally disagreed with those findings. Cannon reported that Childers returned from the meeting “with the aroma
of barbecue sauce on him.” Cannon stood behind the study’s findings and reminded citizens that they needed to deal with facts. Developer Jason Perry, who competes with TDK Construction, spoke up for the proposed project. He drives his son to school on Grigsby Chapel, so he’s aware of the traffic issues, he said. “If I had to choose between single family and senior living, I’d go with senior living. It creates fewer trips per day.” Sal Gaudiano, owner of the property, said that he intends to sell and that he thinks the TDK proposal is the least intrusive development option. Myers said he had a hard time understanding the neighbors’ preference for single-family homes when an assisted living would have to meet architectural and landscaping requirements, have restrictions on lighting and require a significant buffer.
Commissioner Ed St. Clair made the motion to deny the rezoning, which passed. Myers and Ed Whiting opposed. Farragut Village developers faced staff concerns over a site plan for the 252unit apartment complex located on Campbell Station Road. But they had few issues with 38 comments from staff except for a request for more masonry on the exterior. The new zoning district, created specifically for the project, calls for a “significant” masonry element on the exterior of buildings. Renderings of the buildings showed stone on approximately 50 percent of the exterior and fiber-cement lap siding on the rest. After commission agreed that “significant” was too vague, the site plan was approved with the agreement that buildings facing Campbell Station Road would have an exterior that is 70 percent masonry.
Blasius is new director of design center By Wendy Smith Wayne Blasius, who began his new job as executive director of the East Tennessee Community Design Center this week, remembers having coffee with Annette Anderson back in 1977. Anderson was executive director of the design cenWayne Blasius ter from 1973 to 1995. She was one of the first people Blasius met when he arrived in Knoxville to begin graduate work in urban planning. They talked about the importance of getting involved in the community, and the conversation stoked his enthusiasm for civic engagement. In the years since, Blasius has volunteered for the design center,
Knox Heritage, Leadership Knoxville, the Central Business Improvement District and the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, along with other organizations. “I strongly believe in giving back, that our community is only as good as the work its citizens are willing to put into it.” He grew up in the Chicago area and didn’t intend to stay in Knoxville. But the South grew on him − especially the warm winters. After Blasius finished his degree, he was hired as a planner for the Metropolitan Planning Commission. He worked on the downtown master plan that ultimately led to that area’s renaissance. His firm, InSite Development, also contributed to downtown’s revitalization with the redevelopment of the Phoenix and the Mast General Store/Gallery Lofts.
RING SIZING S
Knoxville has an incredible historic building stock, he says. “If you look down Gay Street, there are not many missing teeth.” The area has remained intact because businesses had little economic incentive to be there during the 1960s and 1970s, he says. If downtown had been booming, some of the buildings would have been torn down and replaced with modern equivalents. When it comes to good design, there’s always room for improvement, and he hopes the design center will continue to be a player in that. Blasius took the reins from interim executive director Mary Linda Schwarzbart, whom he commends for her leadership. He also praises the design center’s staff and volunteer board. He thinks his ability to envision a new future for downtown’s
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big, empty buildings will help him lead the design center, though its scope goes far beyond the city center. Knoxville and its outlying communities depend on each other, and good design is beneficial to everybody, he says. The ETCDC, which serves a 16-county region, provides professional design and planning services to communities and nonprofit organizations that would not otherwise be able to afford such services. Conceptual designs for projects, which are chosen based on service to the public, help organizations focus their vision and seek funding. The design center was founded in 1969 by renowned Knoxville architect Bruce McCarty. Staff is composed of three full-time and two part-time employees. Funding for the nonprofit comes from grants and donations.
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