Ed. Note and update: Reports from the meeting in comments by Rikki and Lisa Starbuck.

As the meeting to discuss the South Knox watertower blight approaches, I would like to encourage everyone to attend whether or not you live in South Knoxville or care about the view from downtown, because ridgetop protection is something we must all fight for, and the developers won't give in easily.

Below are just two examples of ridgetop desecration that is happening right now in the Ritta community. The first photo is a "barrow" operation that is located right next door to the brand new $2 million New Harvest Park on Washington Pike. This is the view from the road. Anyone who visits the new shopping center or the park can't help but see this ugliness. The ridge is being dug out by the landscaping company (Eastwood Landscaping) and most of the dirt was sold to fill in the wetlands beside the Walmart for their expanded parking lot. The Walmart project is finished but the digging continues.

I am working on a rezoning roundup. If you see posts or links that have been excluded (and there are many missing right now), please drop a comment with a link and I'll move it from the comment section to the list of links.