local-news

A collection of 109 posts

Chattanooga

Chattanooga Gets Up to $750,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies to Speed Up Backyard Homes

Mayor Tim Kelly announced Oct. 16 that Chattanooga is among the first cities picked for a Bloomberg Philanthropies housing initiative. The city will get $450,000 to $750,000 and expert help to get more accessory dwelling units built.

Nashville

Metro Council Approves $6 Million in Barnes Fund Grants for 39 Affordable Homes for Sale

Metro Council adopted RS2026-2331 on Oct. 20, and the mayor approved it Oct. 21. The resolution sends $6 million from the Barnes Fund to Habitat for Humanity and Living Development Concepts for 39 affordable homes for sale.

Knoxville

Knoxville Council Weighs $750,000 for 25 Affordable Units at Union at Smoky Mountain on Lovell Road

On Oct. 27, Knoxville City Council takes up a $750,000 Affordable Rental Development award for 25 units at Union at Smoky Mountain, a 100-unit, all income-restricted apartment community planned at 360 Lovell Road in West Knoxville.

Chattanooga

Tennessee’s 70th State Park at McDonald Farm Will Be Angel’s Hollow, With a Nov. 6 Dedication in Sale Creek

Tennessee’s 70th state park has a name: Angel’s Hollow State Park. Gov. Bill Lee and TDEC announced Oct. 20 that the park, on about 2,500 acres at and around McDonald Farm on the Hamilton-Rhea county line, will be dedicated Nov. 6, the same day the Hamilton County Fair opens.

Gallatin

Gallatin Weighs a Six-Month Pause on New Apartments and Data Centers as 237-Home Sunset Farms Plan Advances

The Gallatin City Council held public hearings Oct. 20 on two proposed six-month moratoriums, one on new apartment applications and one on new data center applications. The same agenda had a first reading for Sunset Farms, a 60.46-acre rezoning south of West Albert Gallatin Avenue planned for 237 ho

Washington County

Washington County Tables a Senior Property Tax Freeze for About a Year and Looks at Expanding Tax Relief

A Washington County committee voted unanimously Sept. 29 to table a property tax freeze for homeowners 65 and older for about a year. It asked the Budget Committee to consider raising the county’s match on its existing tax relief program. The minutes go to the full County Commission on Oct. 26.

Knoxville

The Gallery at Beaumont Opens in Western Heights: 52 Mixed-Income Units, a UT Clinic and an Arts Center

Knoxville’s Community Development Corporation cut the ribbon Oct. 21 on The Gallery at Beaumont. The W. Oak Hill Avenue building is KCDC’s first mixed-use project, with 52 mixed-income apartments above a UT Medical Center clinic and a relocated city arts center. It is the second new housing phase of

Sevier County

Northview/Kodak Fire Department Joins Sevier County Fire/Rescue Jan. 1 as Pittman Center’s Oct. 31 Deadline Nears

The Northview/Kodak Fire Department will merge into Sevier County Fire/Rescue on Jan. 1 after county commissioners approved the agreement in October. The deal adds nine full-time firefighters. In Pittman Center, the volunteer department’s Oct. 31 shutdown deadline still stands.

Chattanooga

Hamilton County Plans a Roundabout at East Brainerd Road and London Lane as Chattanooga Sets a Nov. 10 Rezoning Hearing

Hamilton County plans to rebuild the East Brainerd Road and London Lane intersection as a single-lane roundabout, with floodplain comments due Nov. 5. Chattanooga City Council will hold a Nov. 10 hearing on rezonings including 8212 Shallowford Road and 1244 Gadd Road.

Nashville

Metro Planners Weigh 125 More Parkhaven Lots on the Cumberland and 33 Townhomes on Old Franklin Road Oct. 22

The Metro Nashville Planning Commission on Oct. 22 will consider final plats for 75 and 50 lots in Parkhaven Communities Phase 3 along the Cumberland River in Hermitage, plus a Specific Plan for 33 townhomes at 3142 Old Franklin Road in Cane Ridge. Staff recommends approval with conditions.

Johnson City

Johnson City’s Sinking Creek Sewer Station Upgrade Slips to December 2026 After a Post-Helene Transformer Delay

Johnson City’s Oct. 15 commission packet carried a $206,000 amendment for engineering oversight at the Sinking Creek sewer pump station, whose final completion moved to December 2026 after a transformer delay tied to Hurricane Helene. The packet also updates stormwater, water line and sewer projects

Knoxville

KCDC Board Sets Oct. 29 Vote on Loans, Tax Credits and PILOT for 170 Homes at the Former St. Mary’s Hospital

The board of St. Mary’s GP Corporation, an arm of Knoxville’s Community Development Corp., will meet Oct. 29 to consider loan documents, low income housing tax credit paperwork, and a lease and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes deal for an approximately 170-unit housing development at the former St. Mary’s H

Sevierville

Sevierville Seeks $500,000 Federal Grant to Study Flood Elevations and Approves New Signal Design at Veterans Boulevard and Middle Creek Road

Sevierville aldermen on Oct. 19 approved grant applications estimated at $775,000, led by a $500,000 U.S. DOT PROTECT planning grant to study ways to keep base flood elevations from rising, plus a $46,500 design contract for a new signal at Veterans Boulevard and Middle Creek Road North.

Chattanooga

Chattanooga-Area Inventory Hits 4,106 Homes in September as Days on Market Climb to 56 and the Median Holds at $340,000

Greater Chattanooga Realtors’ September report shows 4,106 homes for sale, up 16.8% from a year ago, with homes taking 56 days to go under contract and the median sale price flat at $340,000. Here is what the numbers mean for sellers heading into the fall.

Nashville

Metro Planners Take Up Hillsboro–West End Policy to Keep Vanderbilt Uses Off 31st Avenue South Oct. 22

After three deferrals, Metro Planning’s Oct. 22 agenda leads with 2026CP-010-001, a supplemental policy for about 62 acres of Hillsboro–West End that would support homes and call university, dormitory and commercial uses not appropriate next to Vanderbilt’s Innovation SP.

Washington County

Washington County Lines Up $2.2 Million for Johnson City Water Lines and $500,000 for Baskette and Frank Stanton Roads

Washington County’s Budget Committee agenda for Oct. 16 asked to pay Johnson City up to $2.2 million for finished rural water-line extensions and Chuckey Utility District up to $500,000 for about 5,000 feet of new line on Baskette and Frank Stanton Roads. Here is where every county water project sta

Knoxville

Knox Planning’s Nov. 12 Rezoning Docket: 12 Units an Acre on South Northshore Drive, a Wooddale Downzoning and a Karns Cluster

Knoxville-Knox County Planning’s Nov. 12 rezoning cases include planned residential at 12 units an acre on 11.23 acres at 8684 S. Northshore Drive, a 3-acre office-park site at Wallace Road, a 23-acre Wooddale Road property seeking agricultural zoning, and several Karns requests.

Sevier County

Sevier County Sets Nov. 16 Hearings on Three Rezonings, Including 4.49 Acres on Birds Creek Road for Rural Commercial

Sevier County has set Nov. 16 public hearings on three rezonings that went before its Planning Commission Oct. 13: 4.49 acres on Birds Creek Road and 1.93 acres on S. Old Sevierville Pike to C-1 Rural Commercial, and 3.1 acres on Wye Drive from R-1 to A-1.

Chattanooga

Chattanooga Council Weighs City Hall Landmark Bid and Final Vote on 100 E. 38th Street Rezoning

Chattanooga City Council’s Oct. 20 agenda includes resolutions to seek Local Historic Landmark status for City Hall and to study more landmarks, plus a final reading on rezoning 100 E. 38th Street in Alton Park from RN-2 to C-NT.

Nashville

Metro Planners Weigh Copperline Ranch Plan for Former Kenny Rogers Estate on Brandau Road Oct. 22

The Metro Planning Commission takes up a policy amendment and a Specific Plan on Oct. 22 that would let Copperline Ranch, the former Kenny Rogers estate on Brandau Road in Hermitage, add lodging, event and agritourism uses on 47.08 acres. Staff recommends approval with conditions.

Kingsport

Kingsport Planners Hear Plainview Street Duplex Rezoning; Staff Flagged Land-Use Plan Mismatch

The Kingsport Regional Planning Commission took up REZONE26-0262, an R-1B to R-2 request for a duplex on a vacant Plainview Street lot, at its Oct. 15 meeting. Staff flagged a mismatch with the land-use plan; the Board of Mayor and Aldermen has the final say.

Knoxville

Knox County Lines Up Land Buys for Tipton Station Roundabout, Schaad Road Signal and Bakertown Widening

Knox County commissioners reviewed their October agenda Oct. 19 ahead of an Oct. 26 legislative meeting that lists right-of-way and easement acquisitions on nine tracts for a Tipton Station Road roundabout, three tracts for a Johnson Road–Schaad Road signal and four tracts for Bakertown Road widenin

Sevierville

Sevierville Weighs $282,500 Design Deal for SR 416 Turn Lanes at Four Pittman Center Road Intersections

Sevierville’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen takes up a $282,500 agreement Oct. 19 to design left-turn lanes on SR 416 (Pittman Center Road) at Jack Delozier Drive, Shaconage Trail, Murphy’s Chapel Drive and Maples Branch Road. The proposal says right-of-way or easement purchases may be needed on the n

Chattanooga

Chattanooga Council Denies Whiskey Cowgirl Rezoning After Safety Pushback

Chattanooga City Council denied a rezoning request from John Wise at Whiskey Cowgirl and Southside Social on Oct. 13, 2026. The request would have moved the site from Urban Commercial Mixed Use to Urban Commercial Corridor.

Nashville

Metro Sets Oct. 20 Third Reading on 68-Unit Cane Ridge Road SP

Metro Nashville Council will take a third reading on Oct. 20, 2026, of BL2026-1400, which would rezone 5683 Cane Ridge Road from AR2a to Specific Plan zoning for up to 68 multifamily units on 6.64 acres.