As I spend more time driving around East TN, I see more and more abandoned and/or underutilized existing buildings and structures. Some are historic and some are not, but they are all available.
Seeing this makes me wonder why anyone would want to (or “need” to) confiscate pristine and dwindling open spaces and farm land for development. For any reason. Ever.
Yesterday, I learned that a large shipping and transportation company, with help from the State Government, wants to do just that in Jefferson County.
Norfolk Southern wants to build a new rail yard and truck terminal (Intermodal) 10 – 12 miles from I-40 and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is willing to confiscate the land to build the new highway it will need to connect to I-40.
This is not just about about development, it’s about appropriate development. It’s about smart development. And with so many existing structures already available, why develop pristine countryside simply to build something new? Apparently, there is an idle brownfield Site – no connector needed – available in Hamblen County. Clean it up. Fix it up.
Jefferson County Tomorrow is organizing around opposition to the Norfolk Southern Intermodal and have listed 10 reasons why they oppose this particular plan. Here are a few:
It’s a lousy plan for growing good jobs in Jefferson County. Norfolk Southern projects it may employ up to 77 contract workers – all without normal railroad wages and benefits.
Jefferson County is already listed as a Federal non-attainment area due to its dangerously poor air quality.
The proposed site is close to and upwind of an elementary school.
Intermodal Terminals destroy huge tracts of land. Norfolk Southern wants a yard three miles long on farmland west of New Market, but they also hope to profit from warehouses and storage facilities surrounding the rail yard to form a “logistics park” of more than 1,000 acres. (PS: Jefferson county tax dollars – not Norfolk Southern shareholders – would build the “park.”
Whatever happened to “Smart Growth”? Jefferson County is losing its prime productive agricultural land to development. Down from 172,135 acres in 1940, they have only 101,585 acres left of this critical resource. What will the next 60 years bring?
The New Market site would require an interstate connector 10-12 miles long somewhere across Rocky Valley and Bays Mountain. This road will cost more than $25 million per mile and require hundreds of acres of property to be condemned through eminent domain.
By the way, what is with eminent domain anyway? Do we really need it at this point? I mean, with a railroad and interstate system connecting almost every point in the U.S., what possible “public good” can still come out of it? And in this specific instance, is it really in the public’s interest?
Jefferson County leaders are using bad government to force a bad deal on the county, including:
Closed Government — Signed agreement to work in secret and wouldn’t admit to dealings with Norfolk Southern even after NS had started trying to buy land.
Lack of Environmental Stewardship — Recruiting heavy polluter to an area already out of federal compliance for its poor air quality
Failing to Grow Good Jobs — Missing the green jobs boom enjoyed by rest of state
Head in the Sand — Refusing to admit that there might be any negatives associated with something this big and permanent
Refusing Community Input — Refusing to dialogue with community on possible routes for interstate connector
Poor Costs Control — Making decisions on the basis of costs they admit are unknown
Anti-Education — Buckling under to heavy industry rather than protecting school children’s need to work in a safe environment conducive to learning
The Farmland Protection Bill, SB3634, up soon in the Tennessee State House, would restrict using public funding to develop high quality farmland taken through eminent domain. (Good for Senator Burchett, he must understand that all politics is local). On the Federal level, HR3410, Taking Responsible Action for Community Safety Act, would “tighten the reins” on those with powers of eminent domain and make them accountable to the greater community.
It’s beautiful here in East TN. But it’s also ugly and blighted with large, abandoned structures. Do we really want to replace the beauty and utility of our land with more concrete when it’s not necessary?
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Thank you for the clarification, Hickster.
Great article, but I need to clarify what the bill actually says. It doesn’t involve public funding directly. It states that no person or entity can use eminent domain to take land composed of Class I, II or III (considered prime farmland and a small percentage of the remaining agricultural land in Jefferson County) within a county in EPA non-compliance. I’d love to see a bill that totally revamped eminent domain since it’s gone far beyond what was originally intended, but that bill would never pass.
There’s also a disconnect on the legislative website. The original version of the bill is what still shows up there, and it precluded inclusion of the same soil categories in an EPA non-complaint county from expansion of or creation of new planned growth areas. The amended version replaces that, and that version should show up on the website this week or next.