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Council weighs transfer of downtown Gay Street parking lot to Knox County land bank
Summary
Council discussed a proposed transfer of two city-owned parcels/one parking lot on Gay Street to the Knox County Land Reutilization Corporation; land bank and administration described plans to create public parking and an HOA to maintain the lot, and the resolution received a second reading.
Council discussed a plan to transfer fee-simple title for two city-owned parcels — a reservation-only parking lot on Gay Street adjacent to the former Mount Vernon News building — to the Knox County Land Reutilization Corporation (land bank).
Tanner (administration) introduced Resolution 2025-42 and said the parcels consist of one parking lot that the parking company has had difficulty filling under a reservation system. Tanner said the suggestion to transfer the lot to the land bank originated from a downtown parking stakeholder and not the city. "This was not the city coming up with this idea. This was Phil Harold saying it would probably be a good idea to transfer this over to the land bank," Tanner said.
Sam Filkins, who identified himself as working with the land bank, told council the land bank will not request bed-tax dollars to maintain the lot and plans to create a homeowners association for the Mount Vernon News project that would include maintenance costs for the lot. Filkins said the land bank expects to convert some reserved spaces to serve tenants of the redevelopment and to make at least about 20 additional public parking spaces available downtown. "We're looking to add at least 20 spots of public parking in downtown," Filkins said.
Officials described the current lot as roughly 43 spaces; Filkins and Tanner said 10 to 15 spaces would be reserved for building occupants, with the remainder public and that current reservees would be offered the opportunity to continue parking for a fee. Tanner noted the parcels were each purchased by the city in 1970 for $1 per parcel; he said Sam agreed to pay $8.50 per parcel as part of the transfer. The council questioned the emergency clause in the resolution; administration explained that declaring an emergency allows immediate effect after the mayor signs the measure following the required two-thirds vote and clarified that the public will have about six weeks to comment before final passage.
The resolution received a second reading during the meeting; no final adoption vote was taken.
Ending: Administration and the land bank said they will work out cost-share and improvement agreements, and the land bank will handle initial upgrades and ongoing maintenance through an HOA structure tied to the redevelopment of the former Mount Vernon News building and adjacent projects.
