City will not disturb private property
in building of Walgreens
By Julie Fann
Star Staff
jfann@starhq.com
Elizabethton Planning and Development
Director, David Ornduff, on Tuesday said the city will not
disturb private property if a Knoxville development company
and the owner of the North American Corporation site decide
to build a Walgreens Drugstore at the intersection of West
Elk Avenue and Hudson Drive. "What we do not want is for an
entrance to the property to be built directly onto West Elk
Avenue. The proposed entrance would be located too close to
the traffic light at the intersection of Hudson Drive and
West Elk," he said.
Ornduff said the city also did not agree to build
a temporary access road connecting the proposed store to West
Elk Avenue. "What we are saying is that they can use the access
road that is already existent at the site." Ornduff said any
decision to build a marginal access road from Hudson Drive
to Williams Avenue would need to be made and financed by the
developer and the property owner, but that the city would
not be involved in that decision or process.
Ornduff explained the hazard that would exist
by removing 40 feet of curb space to build an entrance to
the proposed Walgreens directly onto West Elk. "If there were
an entrance there, and a car turned right onto West Elk Avenue,
and an emergency vehicle was traveling through that light
to get to its destination, that car would be crushed by oncoming
traffic," Ornduff said. Ornduff also pointed to the fact that
several businesses already have direct access to West Elk
and that adding another entrance would create severe traffic
problems.
The Major Thoroughfare Plan proposed by the city
has already made great strides to improve any build up of
traffic congestion on West Elk Avenue, including installing
a new traffic signal at the intersection at Hudson Drive,
and relocating the North American Corporation entrance from
West Elk to Hudson.
Ornduff said he does not know when the Knoxville-based
developer will contact him regarding the new business.
