Developer Nat Revis continues his project to turn the once beautiful Pine Ridge into a sterile plateau, in spite of intense public criticism. His plan is to shave the top off two ridgetops, fill the valley between them and erect industrial buildings on top.

Controls on erosion and stormwater are utterly inadequate, so mud from the site continues to flow into East Fork Poplar Creek, creating an ugly mess and choking off fish and aquatic life. Learn more, see photos of the stormwater and sedimentation situation after rainstorms in December and January, and find out what you can do.

See other photos of the situation, including Oak Ridge City Councilman Len Abbatiello's aerial shots of construction activity.

Read the news archive -- this fiasco has generated dozens of news stories and editorials in Oak Ridge and Knoxville media.

This petition drive was started on September 19, 2001, and copies bearing nearly 1,400 signatures were presented to the Oak Ridge City Council at its meeting on Monday October 8, 2001. See Oak Ridger newspaper story and editorial and Knoxville News Sentinel story for information about the effort.

The petition is concerned with the 100 acres of Pine Ridge land that was recently clearcut and bulldozed by developer Nathaniel Revis in disregard of aesthetic and environmental considerations, leading to damaging mudslides after a heavy rainstorm during the summer. The petition asks the City of Oak Ridge to return the property to public ownership and convert it to a city park, rather than letting Revis proceed with his plan to shave the top off two ridgetops, fill the valley between them and erect industrial buildings. The schedule for continuing site work on Pine Ridge indicates that the lower of the two ridges present on the site is to be "ripped" down by as much as 70 feet (the whole ridge extends about 200 feet above the valley) within a few weeks time. Bulldozing has been continuous, and blasting began at 11 a.m. on Friday, September 28. Time is critical.

Petition forms are available as PDF files, for printing:

Background Information - Presents the rationale behind the petition, in the format typically used by the City Council ("Whereas this, Whereas that"). People ought to read this before signing the petition.

Petition Form - Blank form for people to sign. Lists the requests being presented to the City Council and has space for signatures and other information.

If you print and circulate a petition please inform Bill Schramm by calling 220-8029 or by sending an email message to orvista@bellsouth.net. Please return signed petition forms as they are completed to:

Return signed petition forms to Bill Schramm as they are completed. We originally expected to conclude this effort on September 30 and deliver petitions to City Council the following evening. However, City Council did not meet or hold a work session that evening. Therefore, results were announced and petitions were submitted to the City, but we continued collecting signatures through Sunday, October 7. We have about 1400 signatures of adult Oak Ridgers right now.

Petitions were formally presented to City Council at their meeting on Monday evening, October 8. On Friday, October 12, City Manager Paul Boyer submitted a report to the City Council presenting his version of the history of events related to Pine Ridge and his recommendation that the project should "be allowed to continue based on the normal site development process." Council is scheduled to discuss Pine Ridge at its meeting Monday evening, October 22, 2001 in the court room of the municipal building.

It is imperative that we get City Council's attention immediately by demonstrating strong public support for a change in approach.

Phone the members of the City Council or send them e-mail to let them know your views (contact information is from the City of Oak Ridge website).

	Home	Work	E-mail
Leonard Abbatiello	483-8264	574-2011	labbatiello@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us
Tom Beehan	483-4644	539-6330	tbeehan@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us or TomBee@aol.com
David Bradshaw (Mayor)	483-3343	576-3928	dbradshaw@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us or drb@icx.net
Ray Evans, Jr.	483-3246	481-0496	revans@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us
Willie Golden	482-4630	463-6829	wgolden@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us
Jerry Kuhaida, Jr.	482-5139	425-3432	jkuhaida@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us
David Mosby	482-4193	574-4328	dmosby@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us

Alternatively, e-mail all of City Council at CCouncil@ci.oak-ridge.tn.us

Thank you