This past Monday Knox County Commission voted to defer the final vote on the Hilltop and Ridge Plan from MPC for 60 days so joint workshops can be held with Knoxville City Council. It is the desire of supporters of this plan to “educate” those who disagree with the plan.

The most significant parts of this meeting can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/KnoxTNWatch

What you need to know:

Due to Tennessee State Law the Hilltop and Ridge Plan from MPC cannot be amended by Knox County Commission or suggestions from the public. It can only be voted up or down. This plan if approved will mean that new residential and commercial construction costs will go up significantly. This is a serious concern in the current marketplace and will make new construction much more difficult to build and sell.

Design build choices for developers and homeowners will be greatly restricted on any property that has more than 15 percent slope. This plan is much more restrictive than the land use plan from the Town of Farragut. There is even a section in the plan that the color of homes on sloped land must be earth tones only. It is an over reaching plan that will significantly raise prices, retard new construction for affordable housing, and negatively affect real estate sales.

What you need to do:

You need to speak with your Knox County Commissioner and explain how this plan is too over reaching. You need to attend the public workshops that you will be notified about in future email notices. You need to have good questions and suggestions about an alternative plan that will protect hilltops and ridges but not harm the local home building and real estate community. The plan adopted in Sevierville does this. In future notices suggestions about a better plan will be made.

In the next few weeks a website will be created and together we will create a plan that we can live with that will protect our scenic hilltops and ridges.

A brief explanation of why this Hilltop and Ridge Plan from MPC is so important to our industry can be found in the hyperlink below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fdL4rg8Syw

You can contact your Knox County Commissioner here to set up a personal meeting:

1st District, Sam McKenzie: sam.mckenzie@knoxcounty.org       

3rd District, Tony Norman: tony.norman@knoxcounty.org

4th District, Jeff Ownby, jeff.ownby@knoxcounty.org

5th District, Richard Briggs, richard.briggs@knoxcounty.org

6th District, Brad Anders, brad.anders@knoxcounty.org

7th District, R. Larry Smith, larry.smith@knoxcounty.org

8th District, Dave Wright, dave.wright@knoxcounty.org

9th District, Mike Brown, michael.brown@knoxcounty.org

At Large Seat 10, Mike Hammond, mike.hammond@knoxcounty.org

At Large Seat 11, Ed Shouse, ed.shouse@knoxcounty.org