LENOIR CITY, Tenn. — Scattered applause could be heard throughout the Lenoir City courtroom as a unanimous vote of denial further delayed the approval of a site plan regarding the new Loudon County School and its subsequent traffic plans.
The plan would ultimately take what’s been learned from various traffic studies and implement those findings into a viable course of action regarding the suggested traffic flow coming in and out of the newly named Ridgeview High School to be erected near Simpson Road and Highway 11 within the next two years.
While additional flashing school zone lights and extra police officers would be stationed during school arrival and dismissal hours, residents that live in the surrounding area still had plenty of questions … questions they said they’d yet to find answers to when they inquired the Loudon County School Board regarding the state of the space.
“How are these people, going on Highway 11, living on one side and the other, how will they be affected?” said Chasey Hachmann, a public commenter with frequent visits near where school traffic is slated to be.
“How are they going to get in and out? How is an ambulance or a fire department going to be in and out?”
‘THE DOCUMENTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES’?
Hachmann wasn’t the only one with worries. Other concerns regarded access into the school using entrances from its neighbor, First Baptist Church Lenoir City, the already incredibly dense traffic on surrounding roads and potential shortcuts, a swath of new drivers perusing roads perceived unfit for high levels of traffic, all coupled with the fact that residents said information on the county side of the operation had been dispensed vaguely and sparsely.
When inquiring about the simplified details of hundreds of pages of a traffic study regarding the project, one resident says she was met with a response from the Loudon County BOE, where a representative stated that they “believe the documents speak for themselves.”
Brian Pierce, a representative from Cope Associates, did give a brief presentation at the meeting following these remarks. Cope is the architect contracted with the development of the new high school, and Pierce made a point to emphasize that only a portion of the property falls under city jurisdiction, with the majority of the property falling under the purview of Loudon County Planning regulations.
One crucial element of the city-side property, however, does involve key entrances and exists onto the property. Pierce also stated plans to implement additional lanes on select streets that involve deceleration and turning into the school roads.
Still, Lenoir City Planning Commission remained unconvinced to move forward with the project.
‘WE SHOULD KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON’
Eddie Simpson, a member of the board, addressed Pierce and spoke to the lack of communication involving county, city and the Tennessee Department of Transportation that he felt put little faith into his constituents and residents that full consideration and care was being given to an increase in traffic that prolong commutes and cause headaches for residents in the school’s vicinity.
“We’ve not been privy to a lot when it comes to this,” Simpson said. “I wish even on the traffic studies that we would have been privy to that but I haven’t been privy to it.”
Simpson continued, echoing sentiments of frustration that many have expressed in regards to the process of approving and laying the groundwork for a new county school so close to city land.
“We should know what’s going on,” Simpson said. “I know it’s a county school, I realize that, but it’s not even being built with our vote, it’s being built with the County Commissioners. And it’s all a vendetta because there’s so much against [Lenoir] City and that’s the only reason we’re building this school.
“I know a lot of county folks are very upset about it because they realize that’s what it is. It’s just to try and slap us as a city.”
Dissent continued into the following Monday evening, where almost half a dozen commenters and even more attendees stood to address Council and further emphasize concerns with the current site plan and the potential pitfalls that could face some of the densest areas for traffic in the city should it be approved.
The amended proposal found on City Council’s agenda for the evening, which eventually passed 5-1, read as a request from “the Lenoir City Regional Planning Commission to require the Loudon County Schools/Loudon County to improve the intersection of Highway 321 and Simpson Road and Simpson Road and Shaw Ferry Road — the public welfare and safety requiring it — due to the new Loudon County High School being built.”
CLARIFICATION REQUESTED
Mayor Tony Aikens called on a number of experts during the session, including third-party reviewer Robert Jacks and Lenoir City Stormwater Manager Greg Buckner.
Jacks pointed out that the main issue came with the initial study showing little to no use of the second entrance onto Simpson Road, even given that the passageway isn’t designed for the conditions it could be placed under.
The initial report claims that the use of the road will be barred for arrival and dismissal, special events and various school-related activities. While some speculate that the road will be used exclusively as an entrance for the new school’s neighbor, First Baptist Church, Jacks said that the lack of definition could potentially poke holes in a strategy that’s yet to even be implemented.
“I guess the big overall issue in the study is it needs some clarification on what the second access point is to Simpson Road,” Jacks said. “Whether it’s just for emergency purposes and, if so, it needs to be tightly controlled because if not it’ll be used.
“If it’s used, the study didn’t account for any of the school traffic being on Simpson Road, so a lot of the recommendations were based on the fact that they weren’t going to have any traffic on Simpson Road.”
Aikens also expressed concern that if the work necessary to these roads wasn’t done as a proactive measure, he and his constituents in Lenoir City would pay the price if and when it eventually became a reactive one.
“If we don’t make the county do it now, if something’s not done now, it’ll be too late,” Aikens said. “We’ll never get the assistance later down the road. …
“Lenoir City and Loudon City and Loudon County used to work together, that no longer happens. Any County official that says that, they’re just misleading the public.”
Matthew Tinker, a representative from the Loudon County School system, spoke to improvements that were already trying to be made in regards to dispersal of dense traffic. Things like bringing overflow onto Highway 11 with a stationed sheriff were mentioned as a big way to try and divide up those large swaths of cars seeking entry and exit.
Aikens and the majority of the Lenoir City Council remained unconvinced.
The only vote of disapproval came from Councilwoman Robin McNabb, who expressed concern of possible litigation over sending the site plan back for a more thorough review in the wake of multiple lawsuits between county and city.
While City Attorney Walter Johnson couldn’t provide total assurance of that outcome’s impossibility, he did seem convinced that they had legal ground to stand on due to the immense risk of 1,000 new drivers on roads deemed ill-equipped to see that kind of wear and tear on a daily basis.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with sending a letter to them using that particular language because you’re not requiring them to reach specific results,” Johnson said. “You’re saying ‘do not approve it until they’ve done what they should do,’ which I don’t think there’s any problem with.”
For now, Lenoir City will remain in opposition to the current traffic study and site plan provided by Cope, with an overwhelming consensus from Planning Commissioners and City Council to wait until more information regarding the project is made available.
In other news, Lenoir City Council:
• Approved filling the position of Program Coordinator in the Parks and Recreation Department, hiring Kara Harvey for the role
• Filled a vacancy in the Lenoir City Police Department, hiring Paul Eubanks
• Filled a vacancy in the Lenoir City Fire Department, hiring James Kincaid
• Approved a quote for a striping project along McGhee Boulevard
• Approved employee Christmas bonuses, with $250 awarded to full-time employees and $150 to part-time employees
• Approved granting city employees two hours of time on December 23; and
• Approved cancelling the meetings of City Council previously scheduled for November 24 and December 22.
Lenoir City Council will reconvene on Monday, October 27, at 6 p.m. in the Lenoir City Municipal Building.
