Not every question was answered at Saturday’s SoKno Town Hall, but one definitely was: Will South Knoxvillians come out at 9 a.m. on a subfreezing Saturday to show they care about their community?
A crowd of nearly 100 gathered in the library at South-Doyle Middle School to prove they would.
County Commissioner Carson Dailey, City Council representative Stephanie Welch and Board of Education member Amber Rountree headlined the event. There may have been a bit of false advertising as members of the Knox County legislative delegation to Nashville put in an appearance, as promised, but left without making any significant contribution to the conversation. (They were scheduled to appear at a local state employees’ breakfast at 10 a.m.)
Most attendees didn’t seem to mind. Head cheerleader Carson Dailey summed up the spirit of the event with his opening statement: “South Knoxville, we’re on the move, folks!”
That spirit continued for most of the morning – until the question-and-answer session that followed a series of updates from elected officials and public employees. One question addressed a popular complaint in SoKno – and the rest of Knoxville – about how to curb the proliferation of predatory lending companies.
While Welch noted that the city had created rules about how close such businesses could be to each other, she and Dailey both said there wasn’t much local government could do about such enterprises. But she also hit the problem head on, saying that the businesses wouldn’t exist if part of the population had more affordable banking options available to them.
During his presentation, Dailey noted that several new businesses will be coming to SoKno in a development on Gov. John Sevier Highway at Chapman Highway, including a Firehouse Subs and a Starbucks. In the Q&A, one attendee asked if it wouldn’t be preferable to have locally owned businesses instead of national companies take up that turf.
Dailey’s answer that he was pro-business and that he’d rather South Knoxvillians have those amenities instead of traveling to other parts of town seemed to rub a few people the wrong way. But another audience member pointed out that franchise owners tend to be local, so the local economy benefits.
The first part of the meeting covered all of the usual subjects that have been on the collective minds of South Knoxvillians over the past few years. Welch reported that the Gateway to the Urban Wilderness – also known as the terminus of the James White Parkway – is still in the early stages, with a design consultant “trying to figure out what’s possible.” Community input will be sought this spring.
Welch also said the reboot of the Augusta Avenue entrance to Fort Dickerson Park is still in the process, with the concept to make it accessible while preserving “the scruffiness of Fort Dickerson.”
Doug Bataille, senior director of the Knox County Parks & Recreation Department, gave a brief summary of work being done at county parks, including Mead’s Quarry and I.C. King. The bulk of his report was on the BMX track being installed at South-Doyle Middle. Basically, he said, a lot of dirt needed to be moved, and work that was expected to begin last fall was put off till spring out of concern over rain delays and giant mud piles.
Rountree bragged on the “21st century library” that has been created at South-Doyle High School. She said the library was comparable to what one would find on a college campus.
She also praised SoKno’s three community schools – South Knoxville Elementary, Dogwood Elementary and New Hopewell Elementary – but let Dogwood site coordinator Adam Fritts report on the strides made by the community schools under the guidance of the Great Schools Partnership.
Fritts talked about the importance of getting the community involved in the community schools and encouraged those present to volunteer.
Dailey said SoKno’s bustling real-estate market was creating a demand for more retail amenities, and he talked about the development of the former Kern’s Bakery building as well as the project on Gov. John Sevier Highway. He said a corridor study of John Sevier is underway with a meeting for community input set for March 4 at SoKno Market.
Dailey, who has been active in the Adopt-a-Road program for decades, used a question about roadway litter to promote Keep Knoxville Beautiful’s March 17 SoKno trash pickup. He also asked for support for his efforts to reinstitute county litter pickup crews using minor offenders.
Questions also included ones about beautification, police presence and noise pollution, but perhaps the key concern came in a question about preserving the diversity of South Knoxville as more people move in to take advantage of the Urban Wilderness and the area’s buzz factor. Welch noted that the city’s head of community development, Becky Wade, a Lindbergh Forest resident, was actively promoting affordable-housing efforts.
Dailey said, with pride, that South Knoxville is now “a destination,” but he acknowledged the price of growth. “If we don’t have young blood, we’ll die.”