(The following story by Scott Barker appeared on the Knoxville News-Sentinel website on July 31, 2009.)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — State Rep. Frank Niceley has been lobbying against the placement of a railroad-truck interchange facility in Jefferson County that would bring jobs to his district in preference for a site in Knox County that could increase the value of property he and his family own in Mascot.
Lately, however, Niceley shifted gears to oppose the facility on environmental grounds and now says the facility should be moved outside the Knoxville Metropolitan Statistical Area because of air quality issues.
Niceley and his family own property near the EastBridge Business Park in Mascot, which he has lobbied would be a better site for the proposed Norfolk Southern Railway facility than the New Market location preferred by the railroad and Jefferson County officials.
Rather than backing the project in the district he represents, Niceley has lobbied state officials for a road that would make the Eastbridge site more attractive for Norfolk Southern and possibly increase the value of his holdings in Knox County.
According to Knox County property records, Niceley and family members own more than 600 mostly undeveloped acres near Easbridge, which lies between Rutledge Pike and the Holston River. Some of the property fronts Rutledge Pike, making it potentially valuable commercial land, especially if a newly constructed road connects the area to Interstate 40 at the Midway Road exit.
Niceley proposed such a road in a conversation with Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald Nicely. The TDOT commissioner, who is not related to the Strawberry Plains Republican, told Niceley the state would assist Norfolk Southern by building access roads no matter where the facility is located.
“We would probably help with access at whatever location Norfolk Southern would come up with because it’s such an economic development opportunity,” TDOT spokesman Travis Brickey said.
Proponents of the Jefferson County site note that Niceley and his family members likely would benefit if the facility, which is projected to create 78 jobs directly and spawn more development, is moved to Eastbridge. A Norfolk Southern consultant estimates the facility will have an economic impact of nearly $1.2 billion between now and 2020.
“He would profit off of it himself,” Jefferson County Mayor Alan Palmieri said of Niceley.
Niceley downplayed a possible increase in his property values as a result of the development.
“My land would be worth more without it,” he said.
But economic development officials say road construction aimed at helping industry almost always boosts surrounding property values.
“You improve the access, you improve its property value,” said Jeff Welch, director of the Transportation Planning Organization.
Mike Edwards, president and chief executive officer of the Knoxville Chamber, said property values increase because of better access but that there’s no way to predict the amount of the increase.
“It’s not going to devalue the property, that’s for sure,” Edwards said.
Niceley predicted that an Eastbridge location wouldn’t affect his property values, noting that much of the surrounding area already is zoned for industrial uses.
“I don’t see that it would affect it at all,” Niceley said.
Niceley now is pushing Norfolk Southern to locate the facility in Greene or Hamblen counties. Air quality, he said, is an important consideration.
“As long as you do, we’re going to be plagued with air problems. We just don’t need to make it worse,” Niceley said.
Knox and surrounding counties are part of an area targeted by federal regulators as a region plagued with too much air pollution. Tisha Calabrese-Benton, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, said state and local officials would have to show the federal government that the project wouldn’t worsen air quality in East Tennessee before it could be built.
Railroad officials contend that the facility, which would ship containers from other areas to East Tennessee for area distribution, would reduce the number of tractor-trailers on the road.
Norfolk Southern officials have insisted that the Jefferson County location best fits its needs, and the railroad holds all the cards. State law gives railroads broad authority to place their facilities where they wish. Railroads, like utilities and local governments, have the power of eminent domain. Railroad officials have never wavered from the New Market site.
Niceley argues that while the rest of the “Crescent Corridor” Norfolk Southern wants to develop in Tennessee would reduce the overall number of trucks on the state’s highway, New Market would see an increase.
“If it does work,” Niceley said, “it will cause a lot more pollution in a county that already has air quality problems.”
He said the site location should be about weighing alternatives.
“You’ve got to balance the environmental side,” Niceley said, “with the industrial-recruitment side.”