Commissioners to vote Monday on BZA appeals

Sandra ClarkLet's Talk

It’s hard to know why Mayor Glenn Jacobs wants to restrict the ability of citizens to appeal certain zoning decisions to the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals. State law provided for this right in creating BZAs in each county.

So, the mayor and county law department devised a workaround – let either party appeal to BZA, but give developers an opt-out if citizens file the appeal, putting the dispute straight to Chancery Court.

The vote on second (final) reading comes up at 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 22, at county commission. Developers support the change; citizens who have had experience with zoning regulations and appeals generally do not. Let’s look at statements from three of them:

Larry Silverstein made four points in a presentation to Knox planning commissioners in June 2022:

  1. Only 2.73% (3 of 109) housing-related development plans approved by the Planning Commission since Jan 2020 were appealed to BZA.
  2. Those 3 appeals involved 2.02% (161 of 7,883) of the total dwelling units approved by the Planning Commission. All appeals were affirmed/modified by BZA within 2 months.
  3. There is not a growing trend of increasing appeals of housing-related development plans that are going to BZA or to Court.
  4. Today Knox County offers fewer opportunities for public input on development plans than the three other metropolitan counties in Tennessee.

Silverstein says eliminating appeals to the BZA would not make a noticeable difference in the number of housing units approved for development in Knox County, nor unreasonably delay them from being built.

Alvin Hickman of Corryton suggested political skullduggery in an online comment.

“It’s about time we elect a true representative that votes on behalf of the people like they are supposed to and aren’t beholden to developers and the mayor. The final vote for the removal of the Board of Zoning Appeals (the citizens’ right to appeal a development) will be happening at this month’s county commission meeting.

“The mayor proposed that this right be removed from the people and instead force citizens that were opposed to have to pay to take a matter straight to court. Most citizen groups wouldn’t be able to afford this and he knows it. (Commissioner Richie) Beeler also made the statement that he was for it at last month’s meeting and voted in approval, despite several citizens from the 8th district being present and even speaking in opposition.”

As we reported here, Beeler said he needed convincing before he could vote yes on second reading. Last week, county crews were upgrading corners at the intersection of Tazewell Pike and Emory Road, pouring concrete and adding buttons to stop traffic. See story here.

The third activist is Kevin Murphy, chair of Knox County Planning Alliance. He has prepared a detailed report (here) on why county commissioners should vote no. He says the issue is important to all neighborhoods.

  • Time: Sometimes you can’t organize your neighborhood, contact staff, contact the applicant, understand potential issues, deliberate and come to a group consensus, and then contact the applicant, prepare and submit comments for Planning Commission, and organize a representative to speak in just 3 weeks.
  • Cost: If court is the option for appeal, there is cost with hiring an attorney, which effectively pus an appeal out of the range of most neighborhoods and community organizations.
  • The standard of review: A court only looks to see if the body acted legally. The BZA hears the case ‘de novo’ – through fresh eyes – and can reweigh the testimony, consider new evidence, and then affirm, modify, or overrule the planning commission’s decision.

The July vote was 7 yes, 3 no and 1 pass. Opponents need to hold their 4 and pick up at least two of the 7 to prevail. Richie Beeler was their best hope, but did he swap his vote to Jacobs for four paved corners? We’ll see at 7 p.m. Monday.

Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today Inc.

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