KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Knoxville City Council voted 8-0 against a resolution to overturn a zoning decision regarding a business that has received dozens of complaints about the smell its facility produces.
Liquid Environmental Solutions on Galaway Street works in non-hazardous liquid waste management, providing grease trap services to restaurants and grocery stores while also providing food waste services.
Tanner Jessel, a Knoxville neighbor, said it makes an awful smell.
"My neighbors and I deserve clean air. The same as Nashville, Winston-Salem and Austin, where this company has fully enclosed its operations," Jessel said.
He was one of three neighbors who spoke against the resolution reversing the zoning violation. Several others were in the audience.
According to the resolution, on Dec. 14, 2023, the Knoxville zoning administrator made the determination LES was not in compliance with city code that says a processing facility's work must be done in a "completely enclosed building." Then in June 2024, the company filed an appeal and the Board of Zoning Appeals denied it the next month. The company then appealed to the city council on July 31, 2024.
Alethea Huyser, a Minneapolis-based lawyer who represented LES Tuesday night, said the business has spoken honestly about its work and the design of its facility for years.
"Much of the discussion to date, including in front of the zoning board, has conflated issues of air quality and zoning," Huyser said.
She was one of three people associated with LES who spoke in defense of the business. They didn't deny that the business's work can smell, but progress has been made to reduce that.
They said LES storage tanks that are outside comply with zoning rules because they're closed tanks.
The city council discussed a range of other issues. During the public forum session at the end of the meeting. Councilmembers listened to Chris Patterson, a retired captain in the Knoxville Fire Department.
Patterson broke his back during a rescue operation in 2022. He said he received poor healthcare treatment after the event and still hasn't received everything he needs.
Mayor Indya Kincannon said the law director's office is working with Patterson's lawyer to resolve his case.