Knox County mayor pleased with growth plan as company announces plans for 440 new jobs

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs told WVLT News Tuesday that he was pleased with the passing of Advance Knox, a growth plan for the county that’s supposed to address an expected major influx of residents into the East Tennessee area.

Previous Coverage: Knox County Commission votes in favor of growth plan

“I’m really happy about the approval of the comprehensive plan and the amendments to the growth policy plan,” Jacobs said. “That hasn’t been updated in over two decades now, and a lot of the problems we see in our county, like the Hardin Valley area, are a direct result of our zoning.”

The growth plan addresses a lot, but a highlight for the mayor is zoning. He said there’s serious housing issues in the county, which he hopes the plan helps alleviate.

“One of the goals of Advance Knox was to address the skyrocketing price of housing in Knox County,” Jacobs said. “One of the ways to do that is to make it easier and less expensive to build here.”

Those zoning changes have seen some pushback, however. Members of the Knox County Commission and Farragut’s Board of Aldermen and Mayor took issue with turning rural land into spaces where developments could pop up. It’s been a constant battle the past few weeks between the people who want to make way for new projects and the people who want to keep hold of that “small town feeling” parts of Knox County have.

For Jacobs, though, the growth is a good thing.

For example, HVAC company Greenheck Group has announced that it plans to build a $300 million corporate complex in east Knox County, bringing an estimated 440 jobs to the area and, according to the Knoxville Chamber, creating another 500 to support its work.

Previous Coverage: More than 400 new jobs coming to Knoxville as HVAC company announces $300 million investment

“I’m ecstatic about the Greenheck announcement; that’s exactly the kind of company we want to move here,” Jacobs said. “Over the next ten years, looking at things like Greenheck, they’re going to need places for people to live. When companies are looking for where they are going to move to, they need the talent to fill those jobs. That talent needs a place to live.”

As for going forward with the growth plan, Jacobs said there’s just a bit more work to do to simplify things.

“The next step is unify the development ordinance, which basically puts all of our building and development ordinances into a much more straightforward statute and body than we currently have. We’re hoping to simplify things to make it easier for everybody,” Jacobs said.

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