Harrison residents refuse to give up

Jeremy Nash news-herald.net

Public comments carried Lenoir City Council’s regular meeting Monday past an hour, with Harrison Glen residents again expressing safety worries.

Appearing for the third time before council, residents want a second entrance to the growing subdivision that could have 350 homes at some point.

“Is it possible to get a municipal bond to buy a piece of property to have a feasibility study and do the development of a second entrance?” Robert Pawlick, Harrison Glen resident, said. “Then, if not, is it possible to get the right of imminent domain invoked, assuming that would be a public road? Option C, do nothing, and let the future members of city council and future homeowners within Harrison Glen deal with the clean up of this problem, which could up being that once the developer lets go of phases 3 and 4 and lets go of the homeowners agreement we get to represent ourselves.”

Pawlick said subdivision residents were not getting adequate representation. He said if he polled Emergency Medical Technicians that many would “think it would be crazy” to have one entrance.

“Are we going to get help from the city council?” Pawlick asked. “Is the developer going to be allowed to cherry pick codes, and are the codes going to be enforced?”

Glenn Davis, another Harrison Glen resident, called for council to take action even if it meant spending thousands of dollars.

“If the city’s position is to protect the interest of the citizens, then it should spend whatever is required to provide for access in and out of a neighborhood that could easily have 15 percent of the total population of Lenoir City in its confines. That’s not small,” Davis said.

Health and safety should be a priority, he said.

“We are going to the state, we’ve contacted the government, we’ve already contacted 6 On Your Side, and we’re going to try to put as much heat on you as we possibly can,” Davis said. “I tell you that openly because we are not satisfied with one way in. Is there another neighborhood in East Tennessee that’ll have more than 300 homes, that has ... one lane in, one lane out going into a two-lane road into a school zone?”

Lenoir City Mayor Tony Aikens said he was not willing to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars.

“City council spent in the neighborhood of $2,500 in trying to get a traffic study done, and I don’t know if that study’s been complete or not,” Aikens said. “We understand your concerns and we’re doing everything we can do. However, I don’t think city council, I know I certainly don’t, I’ll go on record, I’m not for going out and spending — we’ve got about $4 million in the reserves. I’m not for going out and spending that reserve money and going up on taxes to go out and imminent domain a piece of property to put in a second entrance to Harrison Glen. If I do that, I’ve got to answer to the people at Crestwood Hills and I’ve got to answer to the people at Chestnut Ridge and anybody else that’s got an entrance one way in and one way out.”

Aikens said plans for the development were approved well before his time and emphasized sidewalks and streetlights would be installed. The development approved by the city more than 20 years ago.

“They have to follow the plans, but obviously they’re not going to go in there and start putting in sidewalks and streetlights until the development’s done, but we are going to hold them to that and that’s the way it’s done,” he said. “... I’m not prepared to go out and start condemning property or spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and possibly buying up property — even if you can — and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and putting in a road. I’m sorry, I’m being as honest with you I can be.”

Aikens referenced a letter from a resident in Chestnut Ridge who said traffic has improved since the intersection at Old Highway 95 and Harrison Lane was upgraded.

City officials have met with the former developer who agreed to install a turn lane at Harrison Glen, Aikens said.

A letter has been drafted by the city encouraging residents and the new developer to open dialogue in hopes of finding common ground, Amber Scott, city administrator, said.

City attorney Gregg Harrison and city planner Beth Collins recently went through records that show when the development was initially discussed.

“The records showed, or the minutes showed, that there was some extensive contemplation by the powers that be — prior to this group — powers that be about entrances, and it was discussed, I don’t want to say ad nauseam, what we call in the law just to make you sick,” Harrison said. “There was more than one discussion about the one entrance way versus the second entrance way and the minutes will reflect that, and it was ultimately decided by the governmental body at that time for one entrance. There was no question reading the minutes or reviewing whatever legal documents I could find along with Ms. Collins.”

Harrison stressed residents should focus less on the “foreseeability standpoint” and more on the developer’s obligations. He was assured by Collins and the developer that streetlights and sidewalks would be installed, but he did not know when.

Aikens asked Harrison what could happen if the matter ended up in court.

“I’ve been doing this 33 years and I am not the smartest lawyer, but I don’t see any avenue of approach from a legal standpoint standing in Loudon County Chancery Court that you can allege, ‘Well, this just wasn’t fair. This just wasn’t right’,” Harrison said. “I think you’d run into some of the same things that I brought up. ‘Was Lenoir City High School there when you bought your house? Was that road a two-lane road when you bought your house?’ Things of that nature. I just don’t see how that would be fruitful, but obviously you all are more than willing and more than capable and more than invited to file any kind of lawsuit that you want to. I just don’t see from a prediction standpoint how successful that’s going to be.”

In other action, Lenoir City Council:

• Adopted a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation refunding for Lenoir City Schools not to exceed $7.575 million.

• Passed the first reading to rezone property off Reeves Street from R-1 Low Density Residential District to R-2 Medium Density Residential District.