If not removed, this section of railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, would be a “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport because the runway would be built in this area but could not be with the railroad tracks there. This is looking east across the main entrance to Heritage Center on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Railroad tracks at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, have emerged as a potential “deal-killer” for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport.
On Tuesday, Oak Ridge city leaders said a new company in west Oak Ridge might want to use the rail line to ship materials, but the tracks run through and roughly perpendicular to where the airport runway would be. Officials had expected the rail line, which had been “very inactive,” to be transferred.
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Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch was appointed without opposition to a fifth two-year term on Monday, and Council member Jim Dodson was appointed to his first two-year term in a 4-3 vote.
Gooch is starting his third four-year term on Oak Ridge City Council. He has been mayor since being elected to Council in 2014. He had no opposition on Monday.
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Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is seeking a fifth two-year term as mayor. Gooch has asked the other six members of Oak Ridge City Council to re-appoint him to that position on Monday. He is the only council member seeking to be appointed mayor.
Meanwhile, there are two candidates for mayor pro tem, which is like vice mayor. Council members Jim Dodson and Chuck Hope have both asked to be appointed to that position.
The council member who had been mayor pro tem, Rick Chinn, did not seek re-election in November after two four-year terms on council.
In his letter of intent for mayor, Gooch said Oak Ridge is headed in the right direction, with good news across the city from Elza Gate in the east to The Preserve in the west.
Oak Ridge City Council member Chuck Hope has been unanimously elected to the Energy Communities Alliance Executive Board of Directors. The Board met in conjunction with the National Cleanup Workshop held in December in Alexandria, Virginia.
The ECA is the only nonprofit, membership organization of local governments that host or are adjacent to U.S. Department of Energy sites, a press release said. The organization brings together local government officials to share information, establish policy positions, and promote community interests to address an increasingly complex set of environmental, regulatory, and economic development issues at DOE sites across the nation.
The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, who proposed closing the city’s outdoor pool two years ago, objected to spending any money on the pool on Monday. That meant the city could not, at least for now, buy more chlorine for the large, unique pool on Providence Road, near Oak Ridge High School.
Before the vote, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick had told the seven-member Council that the city might have enough chlorine to last through the end of June and possibly into July. “Then we would run out of chemicals to treat the pool, and we would have to shut the pool down,” Hetrick said.
A purchase considered by the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday would have allowed the city to buy up to $60,000 worth of chlorine briquettes from Duffield Aquatics of Anderson, South Carolina. The purchase would have included about $25,000 for a shipment in early July and a cushion because of a shortage in the chlorine supply.
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The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
Note: This story was updated at 8 p.m.
Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, who proposed closing the city’s outdoor pool two years ago, objected to spending any money on the pool on Monday. That meant the city could not, at least for now, buy more chlorine for the large, unique pool on Providence Road, near Oak Ridge High School.
The Oak Ridge Outdoor Pool on Providence Road is pictured above. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)
Oak Ridge Mayor Pro Tem Rick Chinn, who proposed closing the city’s outdoor pool two years ago, objected to spending any money on the pool on Monday. That meant the city could not, at least for now, buy more chlorine for the large, unique pool on Providence Road, near Oak Ridge High School.
Before the vote, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Jon Hetrick had told the seven-member Council that the city might have enough chlorine to last through the end of June and possibly into July. “Then we would run out of chemicals to treat the pool, and we would have to shut the pool down,” Hetrick said.
A purchase considered by the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday would have allowed the city to buy up to $60,000 worth of chlorine briquettes from Duffield Aquatics of Anderson, South Carolina. The purchase would have included about $25,000 for a shipment in early July and a cushion because of a shortage in the chlorine supply.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
Note: This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 8.
Oak Ridge City Council members Jim Dodson, Derrick Hammond, and Chuck Hope were re-elected Tuesday.
They had one challenger, Edward Jackson Jr.
Oak Ridge Board of Education members Angi Agle and Keys Fillauer were also re-elected.
In the City Council election, Dodson received the most votes, 8,253, in Anderson County. He received the second-most votes in Roane County, 1,499. He had a total of 9,752 votes in the two counties, giving him the most total votes of any candidate and 852 more than the second-place finisher.
A crew works in the area of the second phase of construction of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 5, 2020. The construction work has since been suspended. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 7:45 p.m.
Four new stores are planned at Main Street Oak Ridge, but construction has been suspended for now.
A crew works in the area of the second phase of construction of Main Street Oak Ridge on Thursday, March 5, 2020. The construction work has since been suspended. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Four new stores are planned at Main Street Oak Ridge, but construction has been suspended for now.
The four new stores are Five Below, Home Goods, Old Navy, and Ross Dress for Less. The retailers have signed leases, and their stores could be ready to open as soon as the spring of 2021, said Neil Wilson, principal of the development company, TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC. The new stores would be between JCPenney and PetSmart. That includes some of the area where the roundabout used to be.
But construction of the building that would contain the new stores has been suspended.
“Retailers are postponing the opening of new stores and re-thinking the size and configuration of store footprints,” Wilson told Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson in an April 20 letter. “As a result, the retail developers are delaying the construction of the building to house those new stores.”
Wilson said TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC is trying hard to get the project back into its development timeline in 60 days. The storage facility, which has previously been considered by city officials, is part of the effort to get the project back on track, he said.
Wilson said retailers are suffering because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the estimated growth in global retail for 2020 will be cut in half from the levels that were forecast before COVID-19.
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The types of stores that will be hit the hardest are “short-term, fashion, furniture, and electronics retailers,” Wilson said. Customers will buy fewer of those discretionary items, choosing instead to stock up on food and household supplies.
But in the meantime, construction could proceed quickly on a three-story self-storage facility at Main Street Oak Ridge. It would be along Rutgers Avenue, behind Burkes Outlet, Electronic Express, and PetSmart. The self-storage market is doing well, Wilson said.
Some residents and city officials, including members of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, have opposed the proposed self-storage facility or shown little interest in it.
But in a split vote Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 4-3 to approve a zoning change that could allow it. The zoning ordinance amendment, which did not specifically approve the Main Street Oak Ridge project, is expected to be considered for final approval during another City Council meeting in June.
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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, May 13, 2019, will consider the revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.
Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. May 14.
After rejecting an earlier version, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to approve the latest version of the revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.
The vote during a regular meeting in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom on Monday was the first of two readings, or votes. The second vote could take place during a special meeting on Tuesday, May 21.
The approval on Monday occurred four months after Council rejected an earlier version of the plan in a 3-4 vote in January. Since then, a new revised plan has been submitted to the city, and there have been additional discussions between city officials and RealtyLink, the South Carolina developer. In April, the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission recommended 7-1 that the new plan, which is similar to the earlier plan, be approved with some conditions.
The revised plan is being considered as RealtyLink prepares to welcome a second wave of tenants to the site, which is in central Oak Ridge. It would be the second phase of the project, and it could include 90,000 square feet of new retail buildings, an open space near the Belk store, and new sidewalks and crosswalks. It could also include a bus drop-off area near the relocated American Museum of Science and Energy.
Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.
Oak Ridge City Council members on Tuesday suggested next steps for Main Street Oak Ridge. The discussion occurred about a week after Council rejected a revised plan for the second phase of the project in a 4-3 vote, creating uncertainty about what will happen next. The Tuesday evening discussion was meant to help guide Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson in his conversations with RealtyLink, the developer.
The four City Council members who voted against the revised plan expressed a range of concerns on Tuesday that included having a main entrance, ensuring that there is a way to get into and see the center of Main Street, and making sure the project is walkable and has a comprehensive system of sidewalks. Individually or collectively, they objected to the proposed layout of the buildings as the site prepared to welcome a second wave of tenants, advocated for a public forum on the project, and mentioned the importance of mixed-use development. (Mixed-use developments can include retailers and residential and commercial units, among other possibilities.)
The three Council members who voted for the revised plan continued to stress the potential benefits of welcoming four new national retailers to Oak Ridge, pointed out that RealtyLink has spent tens of millions of dollars here, and emphasized the importance of the potential sales tax revenues. They said those revenues will be crucial to help pay off such debts as the renovation of Oak Ridge High School. That debt is expected to spike in 2022 and 2023, about the same time as the city will permanently lose its revenues from the state’s Hall income tax, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said.
Gooch issued a dire warning about the possibility of city inaction bringing the project to a standstill on Tuesday.
“The clock is running, and it’s going to impact us going forward,” Gooch said. “I view this as absolutely imperative to go forward. The fiscal viability of this city is at risk.”
The Council members who have raised concerns and voted against the revised plan on Monday, January 14, have stressed the importance of making sure that the city and developer pursue the best development option. They have said they want to ensure the project’s long-term success.
Here is a summary of some of the city officials’ comments from the Tuesday night non-voting work session: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council approved a rezoning and planned unit development on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved a plan that would allow apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site on South Tulane Avenue.
The apartment proposal requires a rezoning and the approval of a plan for a planned unit development, or PUD.
They were approved in a 5-1-1 vote in the first of two readings on Monday. The second and final reading will presumably be in February.
Voting for the plan were Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Council members Kelly Callison, Jim Dodson, Derrick Hammond, and Ellen Smith. [Read more…]
Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed revised plan from Nov. 29, 2018.
Note: This story was last updated at 1 a.m.
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday narrowly rejected a revised plan that would have allowed four national retailers to build stores at Main Street Oak Ridge.
The Council had unanimously approved a revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, subject to certain conditions, in December. That was the first of two readings.
But Council rejected the plan in a 4-3 vote in the second and final reading on Monday.
The rejection hinged on concerns that included the closure of an access road to the 58-acre site, the movement of mixed-use areas to a future phase along Wilson Street, and questions about whether there are other site plan options and whether the development would or should establish a “city center.” People who rejected the revised plan or asked Council to reject it said they support the development and want continued negotiations with RealtyLink, the developer. But it wasn’t immediately clear this week if that will happen.
Those who had supported the revised plan, on the other hand, warned that rejecting it could affect funding for Oak Ridge and Anderson County governments and school systems by diminishing expected sales and property tax revenues, possibly in the range of several hundred thousand dollars. They worried about the impact on the city’s retail community, property tax values, and new housing developments. They called the project a “once in a generation” opportunity and said it could be a few decades before another similar proposal emerges.
It’s not clear what will happen next or if there is any solution that will be acceptable to both RealtyLink and the planning commissioners and City Council members who opposed the revised plan. On Tuesday, three people involved in the project, including RealtyLink, said there is no other design, no “plan B.”
“We’ve worked for six months to get to where we are,” said Neil Wilson, principal of RealtyLink in Greenville, South Carolina. “We didn’t get what we wanted, and they didn’t get what they wanted.”
He said the four national tenants were notified Tuesday that Council rejected the proposed changes to the planned unit development for Main Street Oak Ridge. The potential tenants will be notified if something changes. [Read more…]
