About a year ago, I published the development map above, it's time for an update. As you can see, Lenoir City officials aren't letting up on bringing as much residential development into the city as they can. Do you think council members or the mayor have given a minutes thought as to what they're doing to the city and the county? Do any of them care? It's obvious, they do not. The question always comes back to the same thing, why are they doing it?

The city has approved 5,156 new residential units in the last three years by plat or rezone, 2,102  apartments and rentals and 3,054 single family homes. This doesn't even include several smaller developments and individual builds. At the same time, they have taken no actions to address the impact these developments will have on life in the city, or the county for that matter. Of course, the biggest and most immediate impact will be on the schools. The county is already making plans for a new school on the upper end of the county to accommodate the growth. Other impacts are already being felt on roads, police, fire and utility infrastructures.

Mayor Tony Aikens' new favorite saying now is, if a city doesn't grow, it dies. He obviously doesn't understand that if a city grows too much and too fast, it also dies. He seems not to care or that's his plan. Why else would he stand by and allow this to happen? Anybody have any idea?

Some of the developments above are completed, some are under construction and some have only been rezoned, the first step in the development process.

Just imagine if all these city developments, combined, average just one school age child per unit. That would more than double the children currently enrolled in the entire Lenoir City school system and more than are currently enrolled in the county school system. At a local cost, our property tax dollars, of $5,000.00 per student, that would be an additional cost to the local school systems of $25,780,000.00 Does the city council have a plan to pay for that? Have they even thought about that?

Lenoir City councilman/planning member, Eddie Simpson, said, the reason he supports all the residential growth is because half of them will never happen. Half would still be way to much. To his point, 1,065 of the approved units are already completed or under construction.

Below are more details on the city developments.