Real Andy Holt ➤
VOL. 56 NO. 16
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FIRST WORDS Homey stay or animal house next door? By Nick Della Volpe The hot zoning topic these days is about the potential benefits and problems of Short Term Rentals (STR), more commonly referred to as AirBNBs. These include stays at a residence for a Della Volpe short weekend up to a 30-day rental. To judge by comments at the city’s April 4 neighborhood meeting to discuss the draft regulations, this is all the rage among new homesteaders interested in owning and rehabbing older neighborhood homes for such business. They argue that short-term rentals can help raise funds needed for the rehab, or to support a more leisurely lifestyle in semi-retirement. Tough questions need to be explored before Knoxville will have answers and a workable set of STR regulations. First among them is: What will this do to established single-family neighborhoods? Will this introduce a business element into bedroom communities, where residents count on quiet streets and the welcome nosiness of neighbors to keep tabs on strangers in the area and the potential for criminal activity brewing down the block? Does such commercial conduct portend the gradual breakdown of traditional zoning that separates business activity from residential – sort of mixed-use activity gone riot? Administration officials conducting the meeting also expressed concern that STR conversions may exacerbate the shortage of affordable longterm rental housing. The issues are more than theoretical. According to Deputy Mayor Bill Lyons and Codes Director Peter Ahrens, there are already over 200 AirBNBs operating in Knoxville ... an illegal use in single-family residential districts. Like Uber in the taxi/ride-share world, this idea is spreading. The administration is proposing a permit system to add a modicum of control to the present laissez-faire situation. The proposal currently requires homeowners to live in the home they are attempting to rent on a short-term basis (Type 1 permit). They would apply for a permit, pay a modest $70 fee, collect hotel and sales taxes, and be responsible to have someone on call within To page A-2
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April 19, 2017
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Peter Cottontail and friends visit Powell The Easter Bunny, Clifford the Big Red Dog and friends stopped by Powell Station Park in time to celebrate the Easter holiday with the community. Powell Business and Professional Association helped pack the park as hundreds turned out for a day of fun. Giant inflatable slides were set up, Rural/Metro brought a firetruck, the Molar Express from East Tennessee Pediatric Dentistry provided train rides and Pearl the pony was on hand providing rides for the kids. Countless plastic eggs filled with candy and prizes were handed out to various winners. Redemption Life Church was also on hand serving up lunch, popcorn was being popped at a nearby station and sno-cones helped provide a little cool relief on a beautiful, sunny day. More photos Page A-2
Charlie Mingie checks out the activity at Powell Station Park and gets ready to hunt for eggs.
Charlee Marshall stops by the egg hunt at Powell Station Park to get a hug from the Easter Bunny, ride a pony and hunt for eggs. Photos by Ruth White
Family’s loss becomes a cause
By Betsy Pickle
Elizabeth Psar’s daughter, Julia, has been gone almost a year, but her short life is still an inspiration. “I have derived strength from her,” says Psar, a child-advocacy lawyer whose career and personal life are primarily focused on helping children. Psar and her husband, Rado, had a “perfect” life until December 2015, when their 2½ -year-old daughter, Julia Barbara, suddenly started having balance problems. “I thought she had an inner-ear infection,” says the attorney. “It never occurred to me that she had a brain tumor.” Psar was at Juvenile Court when her husband took their daughter to the pediatrician. She remembers thinking that Julia would have to have tubes put in her ears. “That was going to be the worst thing that we were going to have to do,” she says. “That was that Monday morning, and by the evening
they’re saying she has a brainstem tumor. And then the next day they’re saying she’s going to die.” The Psars learned that their little girl had DIPG – Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma – a brainstem tumor that is inoperable and incurable. The tumor usually strikes between the ages of 5 and 7, but it can be found in younger children and teenagers. The Psar family, including son Vasil William, now 5, went to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital just before Christmas 2015 to have a port put in for the medications she would have to have. They returned home for the holiday because the doctor said that it would probably be Julia’s last Christmas. The four returned to St. Jude in January 2016. Julia had to endure a grueling regimen of radiation, chemotherapy and experimental drugs. Steroids were part of her treatment and, Psar says, had a horrific effect. Julia bore it all
bravely, but: “She just never smiled anymore, and she was a child who smiled all the time. The steroids just altered her so dramatically.” There were times when Julia seemed slightly better. But during a Make-a-Wish trip to Slovakia to visit Rado’s family, she started experiencing nausea again. Julia died in her sleep on May 17, 2016, exactly one month short of her third birthday. A few months later, Elizabeth and Rado started the Julia Barbara Foundation to raise awareness of DIPG and raise funds for research. Last month, state Sen. Doug Overbey of Maryville and state Rep. Jason Zachary of Knoxville sponsored a resolution to make May 17 DIPG Awareness Day in Tennessee. The Julia Barbara Foundation is hosting a Gala Celebrating DIPG Children at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 20, at the Women’s Basketball
Hall of Fame, 700 Hall of Fame Drive. Tickets, $60, are available on eventbrite.com. The Chillbillies, whose lineup includes Juvenile Court Judge Tim Irwin, will perform. Psar says the entire Juvenile Court team has been very supportive of her family and the foundation. It’s appropriate that the event is taking place at the Hall of Fame. One of the most high-profile DIPG victims is the late college basketball player Lauren Hill, who was inducted into the hall. Hill passed away in April 2015, but her foundation has raised millions for DIPG research and awareness. Psar says the incidence of DIPG is low – about 400 children are living with the diagnosis right now – but “that doesn’t include the children that die from it that nobody catches. It’s a very invasive tumor. It’s like a weed in your garden – it grows so quickly.” To page A-3 2704 Mineral Springs Ave. Knoxville, TN 37917 Ph. (865) 687-4537
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