Atomic City Talk

Thanks there oneutvol. I will Google it and see what I come up with. I mean that’s not something that comes up at the neighborhood BBQ's for a conversation. It has though gotten up my curiosity about the subject.

Good post there Cowboy. The only thing that you pointed out is the expense which most companies don’t want to spend. They are in it to make money not spend it (if they can help it). If the community had a little incentive (say lower sewer/water charges) it might help them make up their minds about putting in something that’s not an eye sore.

I rode by there and looked at Oak Ridge Corporate Center/SAIC office complex and never even realized that it was storm water.

Looks like the residents of Woodland may ( and I emphasis may ) try a recall on some city council members.

I guess thats their right. If they feel that strong against it (the hotel) then let them do what ever that they need to do to try to stop it.

Personally I think there would be a better place to build other then where they want to build it but then again I'm not in the hotel game. I don't have a horse in this race so I guess we will see what happens.

If you own the property on the busiest street in town and in the heart of the hotel construction craze that is happening, and you are in the hotel business, you might choose to put a hotel on your property especially when you plan to build in accordance with the city's corridor plan for that property.

I suspect that the strong arm tactics of the recall threat is as likely to backfire and move some of the three who were initially "opposed" over to the "for" side.

Cracker all I was saying is,"recall" is a rather drastic action not to mention that it is very hard to get it to go through. I just think there are better places that it could be built and leave the buffer zone. I know thats not how business is done these days. In the early days it was what the business can do for the community now its what the business can do for me(the business owner). Its always about the big buck or how much it will put in my pocket. Yes I understand thats the way it works.

Like I said no horse in this race, just was making a statement.

Many of the properties along Illinois Av there are not owner occupied and the corridor plan defines how they can be developed and still be a buffer for the community. When you say there are better places, I just pointed out why these places may be better from the developer's point of view. This goes for the other properties that were bought as investments.

As for the big buck, I think we have way too few bucks circulating in this community.

Finally, I agree that the recall threat is pretty drastic. I still think that it can easily backfire and even add more support for the hotel, realizing that the possibility of a recall could only happen way after this is a done deal.

I didn't say there were better places, I said that I think there are better places.

With the encroachment of Knoxville on Oak Ridge that will stop the buck even more.I agree we need more money in the community.

Does everything have to be a federal case in this town? Can nothing get done without an act of congress?

Well Ernestine it was a federal town at one time...I guess theres still a few people around that remember it that way.

The problem as I see it is just the way the town was laid out in the beginning and they didn't think 60,80,100 years in advance. The way things are laid out IMHO just sort of looks hobbled together even though there was a reason for the madness.

Looks like the low turnout at the Woodland organizing meeting has taken the wind out of the sails for a recall and resulted in a weak call for Mr O'Connor, the city manager, to be fired. This shotgun approach by lashing out at anyone who does not agree with their goal to block development along Illinois Av seems to dilute their message.

There was one call for sanity that I found in the article in today's OakRidger and that was by an anonymous woman who said, "We have to give them a Plan B." Of course there was no such plan offered.

I think the complication that the Woodland folks face is that the development is in accordance with the Illinois Av Corridor plan which places limits on the type and style of development and protects the neighborhood that does not front Illinois Av. It addresses their fears of increased traffic and exposure of the community to the commercial activity.

The Woodland group did not address the issue of their desire to prevent a private land owner from developing legally on his property. It sounds like they want to confiscate it without the cost.

I can't help but think of the similarity to the reaction of folks on the west end, when the Weigels store was first proposed. Many swore that it would ruin their home values, that it would create noise and pollution, and that they would never shop there.

However, it hasn't done any of those things. It is, I have heard, one of the highest-grossing Weigels stores in the Knoxville MSA (though that data point is a few years old, and may have been eclipsed by the interstate locations now), and those of us who live nearby see our neighbors there more often than on our own streets.

I do have to agree that the call for recalling council members or firing the city manager leaves me with the feeling that some of these folks are being shrill and unreasonable. Wouldn't it be more productive at this point to work toward a solution of how development might be made more palatable, given that the neighborhood borders the main commercial district of the city?