Knoxville-Knox County Planning: Agricultural Should Not Be Rezoned to Rural Residential! (published 8-23-2026; article #572)

Source: Knoxville-Knox County Planning: Resources: news: 860: img-4500

Introduction

Does the above image imply that Knoxville-Knox County Planning's focus is to break up agricultural land so “McMansion” subdivisions can be built? A “McMansion” subdivision, by my definition, is a row of costly houses, built side by side, on postage-stamp-sized property. Next-door neighbors could shake hands through open side windows. The above image is found prominently at Knoxville-Knox County Planning: News: 7/30/2026: UDO Module D Articles and Second Draft Map Available.

Greetings, dear reader. This entry focuses on agricultural landowners in Knox County, Tennessee, and the recent behind-the-back rezoning proposal by Knoxville-Knox County Planning. Of course, I have a few questions. The conclusion includes links to my relevant articles from 2022 and indicates my further action.

To a wider audience, how would you like it if your property were proposed to be rezoned behind your back without notice? That's what was proposed recently in Knox County, Tennessee.

Fortunately, wisdom postponed the rezoning proposal until the new county mayor and county commission members take office on Tuesday, September 1. The postponement gives agricultural landowners greater opportunity to speak their minds about their concerns.

Agricultural Rezoning Behind Farmers' Backs

Around the middle of the month, local television news stations in Knox County began airing segments about Knoxville-Knox County Planning. A big change was that land originally zoned agricultural was proposed to be rezoned to rural residential. The proposal was arranged behind the backs of agricultural landowners.

Two of several sources are “Knox County zoning overhaul raises concerns among farmers: Proposed Advance Knox plan would reclassify agricultural land by default; farmers say they found out through social media.” WVLT News, by Caroline Mueller, 8/10/2026, and “Farmer raises concerns over proposed Knox County zoning changes.” WATE 6 On Your Side, by Drea Peebles, 8/11/2026.

Initially, zoned Agricultural (A) landowners would have to submit opt-in forms to retain their current zoning. Otherwise, their property would be rezoned to Rural Residential (RR) without any notice.

Behind-the-Back Rezoning Postponed

As the previously referenced news sources indicate, agricultural landowners caught wind of the behind-the-pack proposal. They started “making hay” by speaking out in opposition. As a result, the proposal was put on hold.

Advance Knox: Unified Development Ordinance (UDO): Work on Draft Map 2 Has Been Paused states (with my underlining added for emphasis):

Due to significant interest and feedback, work on this draft map will be paused until a later date. Property owners who currently have Agricultural (A) land do not need to fill out an opt-in form. Additional comments can be made by calling 865-215-3085, submitting a comment on the map, or emailing contact@advanceknox.org.

The “Draft Map” link on the previously mentioned web page opens ArcGIS: Apps: Dashboards: Knox County Unified Development Ordinance: Proposed Zoning Map — Draft 2. Clicking the link immediately opens a prominent pop-up box stating, “Work on Draft Map 2 Has Been Paused: Due to overwhelming feedback, work on this draft map will be paused until a later date. Property owners who currently have Agricultural (A) land do not need to fill out an opt-in form. Comments on the map will continue to be accepted.”

Clicking past the pop-up on the “Draft Map,” I selected the tab “Compare Proposed and Existing Zoning Maps.” If you do likewise, you will see, on the right, the “Existing Zoning Map” and, on the left, the “Proposed Zoning Map – Draft 2.”

Opening the legend for the “Existing Zoning Map” shows the light green properties that are currently zoned Agricultural. Those properties compose most of the rural land in the county.

Opening the legend for the “Proposed Zoning Map – Draft 2,” however, shows the proposal to rezone Agricultural land to Rural Residential (dark green). It would be a significant change.

A down-to-earth summation of this section is Knoxville-Knox County Planning got caught with their hands in the cookie jar! The "cookies" were the zoned Agricultural land, which Knoxville-Knox County Planning proposed to rezone to Rural Residential.

My Questions

A few questions come to mind. First, why did Knoxville-Knox County Planning (KKCP) want to rezone Agricultural land to Rural Residential? What was the motivation?

Additionally, why did KKCP not consult first with zoned Agricultural landowners before making the proposed rezoning? Did they want to rezone behind the backs of those landowners?

Further, why would a property owner of zoned Agricultural land, proposed to be rezoned to Rural Residential, have to opt back into zoned Agricultural land? Would it have been better to ask those landowners to opt in to change their land from zoned Agricultural to rezoned Rural Residential if they wanted to do so?

Finally, from the “I smell a rat" department, are property developers influencing KKCP? If all zoned Agricultural land were to be rezoned to Rural Residential, would property developers not swarm down on rural landowners like buzzards on freshly killed meat with their marketing efforts to buy the land? Will agricultural landowners begin hearing their doorbells ring as door-to-door property developers drop by to buy their land?

Conclusion

The acronym for “Unified Development Ordinance” is UDO. Odo, not Udo, was the changeling character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. When I hear UDO, I laugh and think about Odo, the changeling.

This article accuses the folks at Knoxville-Knox County Planning and their sidekicks at Advance Knox of being changelings. They have changed from upholding the best interests of landowners in Knox County to being influenced by pesky property developers who want to turn agricultural land into McMansion subdivisions for a huge profit. Farmers are being shafted. The roads and infrastructure will not support such changes.

I am not alone in my opinion. For example, “UDO Draft 2 Map and RR Zone Changes,” Knox Community Planning Alliance, 8/8/2026, has a much more in-depth response to the proposed zoning change than this brief article does.

Four years ago, I focused on Advance Knox and the land use and transportation plan in a series of four articles. The first article from 5/1/2022 includes a subsection titled “Advance Knox Psychobabble.” I followed up with complete articles from 5/8/2022, 5/9/2022, 5/18/2022, and 5/21/2022. Unfortunately, I have returned my focus to this matter.

After publishing this article, I plan to link to it in emails I send to Knoxville-Knox County Planning (contact@knoxplanning.org), Advance Knox (contact@advanceknox.org), and incoming Mayor-Elect Betsy Henderson (info@betsyhenderson.com). Further, I plan to send a modified email to the recipients on Knox Community Planning Alliance's Take Action: UDO web page.

This concludes my 78th entry in the Poly-Ticks: Greek πολλά (many) and ticks (bloodsuckers) Topic Section. If we could get the many bloodsuckers out of politics, we might find a few true statesmen and stateswomen left standing.

August 8th: Annual Emancipation Day (published 8-12-2026; article #571)

Leffler, Warren K., photographer. Civil rights march on Washington, D.C. / WKL. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2003654395/>. No known restrictions on publication.

Introduction

As it is said, “You learn something new every day.” Well, maybe not every day. Early last Sunday morning, a local television news station taught me something I had not known in my sixty-six youthful years of living.

To emancipate is to free from the control or power of another. In short, it is to be set free from bondage.

What did I learn? I found out that the 8th of August is the annual celebration of Emancipation Day. Why, as far back as I can recall, had I not heard about the day before? I don't remember hearing about the day until early last Sunday morning.

Annual Emancipation Day on August 8th

According to sources (listed below), on August 8, 1863, during the American Civil War (1861–65), Tennessee Military Governor Andrew Johnson freed the slaves he “owned” at his home in Greene County, Tennessee. This was after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, which became effective on New Year's Day 1863.

A few years afterward, Sam Johnson, formerly enslaved by Andrew Johnson, began to promote the annual observance of August 8th as Emancipation Day in Greene County. In time, the annual celebration spread to other towns in Tennessee and in nearby states.

In 2007, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen signed a bill into law, which acknowledged August 8th as annual “Emancipation Day.” Unless I missed them, I was not aware of special celebrations on August 8th until last Sunday morning.

For further reading about Emancipation Day on August 8th, I suggest the following sources:

“'When we know better, then we can do better' | Knoxville historians share stories of resilience ahead of Emancipation Day.” WBIR-TV (Knoxville), by Lexie Martin, 8/7/2026. I may have seen a repeat of the televised version of this article early last Sunday morning.

“The Eighth of August: Emancipation Day in Tennessee,” Tennessee Historical Society, by Skyler Gordon, 8/3/2018. The brief article begins with an observance in Clarksville, Tennessee, on August 8, 1941. It also reflects back to a celebration in the same town on August 8, 1898.

The National Park Service: Andrew Johnson National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, includes the following noteworthy entries: Emancipation Day (last updated 4/14/2015), August 8th (last updated 7/24/2020), and Slaves of Andrew Johnson (last updated 7/20/2023). In summary, the columns elaborate on the lives of the slaves whom Andrew Johnson freed.

The Beck Cultural Exchange Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, includes a column titled “Eighth of August History.” A section of it describes annual celebrations in Chilhowee Park during segregation. Also included is a link to an East Tennessee PBS documentary from August 8, 2016. Finally, three additional links direct to “More About the Eighth of August.”

I was pleased to discover Black in Appalachia: 8th of August: Tennessee's Celebration of Emancipation. The brief article embeds an audiovisual presentation, which is also available at “The 8th of August: Tennessee's Celebration of Emancipation,” Black in Appalachia (YouTube), 8/5/2022. Looking through the website, I learned the organization is headquartered in nearby Whitesburg, Tennessee. I may plan to visit them.

Finally, Tennessee State Museum: The History of Emancipation Day in Tennessee, by Stephanie Davis, 8-27-2021, includes an excellent historical synopsis of August 8th.

Conclusion

It is fitting for this brief article to become the 38th entry in the Appalachia—Northeast Tennessee Topic Section. I learned something profound early last Sunday morning. It began in nearby Greene County, Tennessee, on August 8, 1863. Once freed, Andrew Johnson's slaves did not wish to return to slavery. They were free to flourish as free men and women. Their accomplishments are described in the sources cited above.

Quoting from my inaugural article (3/6/2006), “To a true Appalachian, skin color doesn't matter. Of course, our necks may be a little red from getting out and actually working for a living, but you can be red, yellow, black, brown, or white and still be an Appalachian! Understand?”

This entry honors the freedom won by and the accomplishments of fellow Appalachians, deceased and living, with skin color darker than mine. We are relatives through the lines of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. Every human is kin to one another. If all people could understand this relationship, nations and people groups would not antagonize each other.

To be emancipated from the evils of slavery is to be set free. Closing on a deeper spiritual point, my short story from August 14, 2022, briefly mentions my emancipation from sin and conversion to Christ on Monday, June 22, 1981.

I was once a spiritual slave, under Satan's control. However, as the Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (NIV).

Are you free in Christ? If so, you are my spiritual relative. Are you still a slave to sin? If so, unyoke yourself by becoming a servant of Jesus. If you would like to begin a confidential conversation along this line, please email me using the Contact Form on this website. I am a former slave, whom Christ set free. I would like to share that freedom.

Finally, this article remembers my maternal grandmother, Lula Frank Amos Wood (6/16/1901-8/12/1991). Granny Wood went to her everlasting freedom 35 years ago today.

Is Anyone Missing a Tagged Pigeon in Morristown, Tennessee? (published 8-2-2026; article #570)

Photograph by my youngest brother on Wednesday, 7/29/2026, at 11:05 AM, showing the tagged right foot of a pigeon resting in his left palm.

Introduction

Acrobatic? It must have been awkward to hold a pigeon, perched on your left palm with the back of your left hand on green vegetation, and to photograph the scene using your cellphone camera in your right hand.

Welcome, dear reader, to the 127th entry in the Humor Topic Section. It really happened. My youngest brother texted the above image to my cellphone last Wednesday afternoon. My amazed textual reply requested to know “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey would have said.

A Pigeon in Hand: The Rest of the Story

Late last Friday afternoon, my brother called to tell me “the rest of the story.” He said last Wednesday started off as a usual day at work. (He works in Morristown, Tennessee.) Around 11 AM that day, while routinely walking from one building to another, he was surprised when a pigeon flew down and landed near him. As he approached it, he thought it would fly away. Instead, the pigeon flew up and rested on his arm!

Was it a homing pigeon? As in the above image, it had a tag on its right foot. My brother couldn't make out the tag well enough to identify the owner or any contact information for reaching him or her.

My brother said the pigeon followed him around and even rested on the palm of his hand, as in the above image. After taking the above photograph, my brother placed the pigeon under a shade tree and went to get a cup of water. The bird awaited his return and drank water from the cup.

Afterward, my brother went back inside to continue working. When he had opportunities, he looked outside and saw the bird still under the shade tree. After a while, however, my brother never did see the bird again that day. He looked for it over the next two workdays, Thursday and Friday, but didn't see it.

Conclusion

On House Mountain, I once saw a bald eagle perched on a tree branch near the upper-middle bluff. Standing nearby on the rock bluff, I was within a few feet of it. The bird flew off before I could photograph it.

The article from 11/19/2023 includes my photograph of an owl perched on a tree within feet of where Molly (our “old puppy”) and I were hiking. Molly and I were amazed it didn't fly off.

Countless times and in different hiking locations, I have come upon deer and startled them. Years ago, at Big Ridge State Park, a bear was on the trail I was hiking. Clapping my hands and talking loudly to it as I approached, the bear ran crashing down a ravine below the trail before I got to where it had been.

I have never, however, had a pigeon fly and land on my arm while at work, in the woods, or anywhere. My youngest brother has one-upped me with his pigeon story. Thanks for sharing your story, brother.

Is anyone missing a tagged pigeon in Morristown, Tennessee?