By MONA NAIR
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A community in North Knoxville is worried about how some zoning changes could affect the quality of their neighborhood.
The developer of the strip mall at the intersection of Clinton Highway and Merchants Circle already got through one stage of approval from city council. But people living in the Norwood community hope to stop the process from going any further at a city council meeting Tuesday night.
"This zoning issue is about 18 acres of land and we're standing in the middle of it. To the back of us is the Expo Center and the Kroger store," said resident Lynn Redmon as he showed us the area. One section of the mall is vacant and used to house a Kroger store.
Redmon and others in Norwood are worried about developer Tim Graham's request that has already made it through one stage of the approval process.
"A C4 zone is an unplanned zone. It basically allows for any commercial development that a developer wants to do. They could do something fantastic, or it could be a used car lot, pawn shops, and that would not be an asset to the community in my opinion," said City Councilman Marshall Stair, explaining the zoning request.
That section of Clinton Highway has already had several pawn shops and used car lots, many of which are now vacant. Redmon worries that could become the fate of this shopping area across the street from his neighborhood.
"It's a quality of life issue. It's a property values issue. It's an issue of the future of the Norwood community," said Redmon.
6 News tried to get a comment from the Graham Corporation but got no response.
The issue will get a final vote by city council Tuesday night.
"C4 is a dirty zone where anything goes, and we don't want to see that," said Redmon.
Redmon and others plan to oppose the zoning.
