Knoxville councilmembers shelved Mayor Indya Kincannon’s proposal to sell 12.7 acres of Chilhowee Park land to the Emerald Youth Foundation in a 5-4 vote Sept. 30. It’s the first time in Kincannon’s second term the council has refused to approve one of her proposals.
Emerald Youth, a Christian nonprofit, envisioned a complex with athletic fields, a medical building, a gymnasium, batting cages, a career center, classrooms and a walking trail. Its Lonsdale complex serves as inspiration.
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What were neighbors and councilmembers’ concerns?
Many community members said Kincannon’s office didn’t seek their opinions before the plan was revealed.
Show us your vision for the park and how it helps the community’s health and economic welfare prosper, opponents of the land sale said. Don’t make piecemeal decisions that have long-term repercussions for the futures of The Muse, the Tennessee Valley Fair, Zoo Knoxville and the potential purchaser, Emerald Youth Foundation, they demanded.
The city relied on Emerald Youth ‒ the organization that’s pushing hard for the project ‒ to lead discussions with the public. Neighbors criticized the nonprofit’s leaders for bringing into the conversation only those who were likely to back the plan.
Kincannon, on several occasions throughout the monthslong debate over the sale, conceded the city did not adequately engage the public.
The city crafted the request for proposal, an invitation to prospective partners, with Emerald Youth in mind, and allowed Emerald Youth to lead the appraisal process to determine how much the land is worth.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation, which has influenced Knoxville’s decisions in the past, sent a letter to city officials Sept. 15 echoing community member concerns a sale would unfairly benefit the religious nonprofit because of Emerald Youth’s unusual control over the process and the economic benefits it would gain from the sale of public land.
Samantha Lawrence, the Freedom From Religion foundation attorney who wrote the letter, told Knox News she would monitor the Sept. 30 vote and if the deal was approved, she would determine a further course of action.
City made changes
Five business days before the vote, Kincannon and Emerald Youth announced changes to the proposed contract:
How long Emerald Youth has to keep the facility open
In the previous version of the contract, Emerald Youth was required to operate the facility for 20 years. The new proposal extends that time to a minimum of 40 years.
Knoxville’s right of first refusal
In the previous version of the contract, if a third-party buyer wanted to purchase the property from Emerald Youth, the nonprofit had to approach Knoxville and offer to sell it to the city first.
That provision has been extended to 40 years from 20.
Land will be used for recreation forever
Knoxville added a provision to the contract saying that even after 20 years, the land where the sports fields are located must always be reserved for recreational open-space use.
Additions of written commitments in the contract
Emerald Youth committed to keeping as many mature, existing trees as possible on the land.
Emerald Youth leaders committed to keeping the complex accessible to the community at large.
City investment in Chilhowee Park
Kincannon, in an effort to sway councilmembers to support the deal, announced a new financial commitment to East Knoxville: $10 million over five years to pay for improvements to the north side of the park. She doesn’t know what the improvements will be, but plans to use community feedback to guide the process.
The city also will facilitate the creation of an East Knoxville Advisory Group, similar to the one created to help guide changes to the city’s South Waterfront.
Kincannon told Knox News on Sept. 24 she’d follow through with the financial commitment and facilitation of the advisory group regardless of whether the contract was approved.
Allie Feinberg is the politics reporter for Knox News. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com; Reddit: u/KnoxNewsAllie
Emerald Youth plan for Chilhowee Park shelved by city council
