Monthly Archives: October 2022

We have mentioned before our concern about the grossly underfunded Knox County roads budget, the obligations of which apparently grow monthly as developers hand over new roads for county maintenance.

From Compass yesterday –

Street Talk: An item titled “Acceptance of New County Roads” is a staple on Knox County Commission agendas — nine out of the last 12 months, commissioners have accepted the conveyance of roads built in new subdivisions by developers. Those neighborhood streets are crucial to the subdivisions’ viability, but maintaining them is an expense and hassle for developers who generally don’t have their own highway departments. So after building the roads to the specifications of county codes, they donate them to the county, i.e., the general public — for whom they become both assets and liabilities.

At-large County Commissioner Kim Frazier, who was just sworn in last month, has a particular interest in the the way costs and impacts associated with development are externalized to the surrounding communities. As a founder of Hardin Valley Planning Advocates and the Knox County Planning Alliance, she has for years argued that those costs are often overlooked or underestimated when Commission approves new development plans.

So this month, as Commission considered accepting roads from the Roefield subdivision near Gettysvue Golf Club in West Knox County, Frazier requested a briefing on the long-term financial implications.

Jim Snowden, the county’s senior director of engineering and public works, said the county currently has about 1,730 miles of roads and over the past 25 years has on average added about nine miles per year in new residential roads.

Those new roads can typically be expected to last about 20 years without major repair, Snowden said, but eventually need to be milled and resurfaced. At current prices — including what he said is an “all-time high” cost of asphalt — it costs about $220,000 to pave a mile of road.

Snowden added that some of the issues being discussed in the Advance Knox planning process could help reduce those costs in the future — particularly “scenarios that limit our continued sprawl and allow for less of these roadways like this, with higher density and maybe even narrower streets.”

But for now, commissioners voted to accept the Roefield roads.

Thanks to Jesse Mayshark, Scott Barker and Compass for following important public matters. Here is an excerpt from this morning’s Compass:

The City of Knoxville is taking steps to create a Zoning Department that would coordinate land use determinations with Knoxville-Knox County Planning, though it’s unclear what the relationship between the entities would be.

Buried in a $7.5 million budget amendment approved by City Council last night was a measure transferring a vacant zoning chief position from the Plans Review and Inspections Department to the mayor’s office.

The position, rechristened a special assistant, would “support the creation of a new Zoning department as part of the City’s efforts to improve development services,” according to documents. The budget amendment authorized appropriating $25,000 to cover an increase in pay for the position.

Chief Policy Officer Erin Gill indicated the proposed Zoning Department would work with the Plans Review and Inspections Department on “reactive” matters — applications for specific projects and zoning changes. That apparently would leave “proactive” efforts — the development of long-range plans, for example — to the Knoxville-Knox County Planning staff.

“It’s part of making development more predictable,” Chief Operations Officer David Brace said.

The proposal came as a surprise to Council members Lauren Rider and Lynne Fugate, who grilled Gill and Brace about the Zoning Department. “This seems like it’s something bigger,” Fugate said. “This seems like a precursor to the city having a planning department and the county having something else.”

According to Gill, the city administration is still developing a plan for the proposed department. “This is a work in progress,” she said.

Knox County is indeed taking a similar approach, with Senior Director of Engineering and Public Works Jim Snowden taking a more active role in land use decisions.

The city and county have different zoning ordinances, but the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission, which consists of members appointed by both mayors, makes initial decisions — and in some cases the final determination — on land use issues for both governments. The Knoxville-Knox County Planning staff handles applications and makes recommendations to the Planning Commission.

The idea of creating separate planning commissions — one for the unincorporated portion of the county and one for the city — has been floated from time to time in recent years. The Planning Commission was created by state law, however, so any changes would require state action.