West Hills Neighborhood Seeks to Control the World

With property values in Knox County reaching all-time highs, many homeowners are putting their homes on the market and taking the money and running.  Neighborhoods have personalities and it is important that you understand the people you will be living with for the foreseeable future.

Nestled at the edge of the City of Knoxville on the westside is the West Hills neighborhood; with a neighborhood association on steroids.  The neighborhood was begun in the 1950's and has built out to almost full occupancy.  Very few, if any, lots still exist to build on and the neighborhood has not begun to see the rash of 'tear down and start over' that neighborhoods like Deane Hill, Westmoreland, and Sequoyah Hills have seen.  

The West Hills Association continues to fight for traffic measures that would deter anyone from cutting through their neighborhood.  What their efforts have done thus far is to push traffic off of the main roads and more it into the interior of the neighborhood to avoid their 'traffic calming' devices.  This is readily evident along Westly Road where, without any traffic surveys, or need, stop signs appear at almost every intersection along this stretch of road that runs from Kingston Pike to Middlebrook Pike.

Broome Road is the latest victim of this neighborhood over-reach as speed humps on hills, and before stop signs will make the road dangerous to travelers during rain, snow, and in the dark of night.  There interference with public thoroughfares will most likely end up in a court of law; with motorists citing damage to undercarriages on expensive sports cars.  

For residents, who are members of the Homeowner's Association they should realize that if the association is sued, homeowner's insurance policies will not foot the bill, or the liability, because the association is a voluntary group; no deeds in the neighborhood require membership in the association and therefore it will not be covered by their policies.  

Until then, the best way to combat the spread of these 'traffic calming' devices is to lay on your horn every time you have to slow down to below the speed limit to traverse one of these sleeping policemen.