WBIR: Some Knox County neighbors say potential rezoning proposal ignores limits of Bluegrass area

EXCERT:

About two dozen western Knox County neighbors attended Commissioner Shane Jackson's community meeting at Bluegrass Animal Hospital on Monday evening. Jackson, commissioner for the Fourth District, said he was there to listen to neighbors.

Many of them pressed him for answers about why approximately six acres next to the hospital could be rezoned from "Agricultural" to "Planned Residential," opening the opportunity for the property's owners to work with a developer to build up to 65 "townhouse-style" units.

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Laura Stout, who lives behind Bluegrass Animal Hospital, said she felt "resigned at best" after the meeting. She believes that county leaders are prioritizing development over preservation of a neighborhood's character and context, regardless of what is said in public.

Stout and others spoke against the rezoning proposal at a meeting of the Knoxville-Knox County Planning Commission in May. She said they waited hours to talk then, and Jackson's answers on Monday evening didn't change her opinion that her concerns wouldn't be considered, even though she isn't necessarily against housing development.

The Knox County Commission is expected to consider the rezoning on June 16.