Knox council authorizes offering about five Parkview lots for sale to encourage new home construction

The City of Knox council authorized putting approximately five buildable lots in the Parkview neighborhood up for sale after a lengthy discussion about lot sizes, covenants, and past redevelopment grant efforts.

Chair (S1) told the council that several contractors had expressed interest in purchasing Parkview lots "to build new homes," and said the lots are undersized by today's standards but can be built on if setbacks are met. He described past efforts to secure a major grant to rehabilitate Parkview that the city later missed, and noted that smaller grants exist but may not be sufficient for broad redevelopment: "it was like a 10 home 10 home grant that you could get a grant of up to $700,000," he said, referring to prior funding opportunities.

Council members discussed the need to appraise lots, run an open bidding process, and add covenants requiring buyers to begin and finish construction within set timeframes to prevent speculative holding. One council member moved that the city "go ahead and put those up for sale" (about five lots); the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote.

Council also flagged affordable-housing concerns. Chair (S1) noted the difficulty of finding new starter homes at low price points and discussed options for encouraging smaller, starter homes or rentals; the transcript includes an unclear price reference (the speaker said "$2.50" and related figures in the discussion) that the council did not specify in full, so the record treats that figure as not specified rather than a definitive price point.

The council voted to proceed with offering the lots and directed staff to follow standard sale procedures including appraisal and public notice.