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Knoxville public officer orders 60‑day repairs for 3030 Woodbine after inspection
Summary
Public officer Nicholas Bradshaw ordered the owner of 3030 Woodbine Avenue to make repairs within 60 days after city inspectors cited severe structural deterioration and unsafe decks; owner Lee Jackson said he is working to comply and disputed some of the inspectors’ timeline and calculations.
Nicholas Bradshaw, the public officer designated under the City of Knoxville code, found the structure at 3030 Woodbine Avenue “out of compliance with the codes of the City of Knoxville, an attractive nuisance, and dangerous and injurious to the health and safety of the occupants” and ordered the owner to repair the property within 60 days.
Scott Elder, neighborhood codes enforcement manager for the City of Knoxville, presented photographs and an inspection report documenting extensive deterioration: rotted rim and floor joists, rotted sill plates, missing siding allowing water intrusion, exposed electrical wiring near the meter center and multiple failing deck components. Elder told the hearing that permits applied for in 2024–2025 remain under review and that the decks serving occupied units are the primary safety concern.
Owner Lee Jackson acknowledged he has begun repairs and disputed some of the inspectors’ concerns about the deck supports, saying the carriage bolts he used provide sufficient load capacity: “the minimum weight, if you saw it from the bottom going up...it will hold is 9,000 pounds,” Jackson said, describing multiple supports he believes are more than adequate. He also said he has difficulty with online permit systems and needs in‑person help to submit additional documentation.
Elder said the building department will require calculations and installation details showing how the bolt connections and posts are sized and attached before the department can approve the permit and that staff can help Jackson navigate submission requirements.
Bradshaw acknowledged Jackson’s “good faith effort” but said corrective work must proceed. He ordered the owner to repair the structure within 60 days and warned that if rehabilitation is not completed and final inspections are not approved the structure may be placarded as unfit for habitation, vacated and closed, or demolished with the city’s corrective costs becoming a lien against the property.
The order cited the City of Knoxville code (Article 6, unfit buildings) and the city’s adopted building and safety codes as the legal basis for the action. The public officer invited Jackson to meet with building inspections staff for help completing the permit and documentation required to demonstrate compliance.
