Knox County, TN Property Maintenance: Property Blight (2026)

Chapter 11, inserted into the code by the 2018 IPMC amendments in Sec. 10-92, opens with Section 1101's Adoption of State Law, under which Knox County adopts Tennessee Code Annotated title 13, chapter 21, part 2 governing acquisition, holding, clearing, maintenance and disposition of blighted or deteriorated property. Section 1102 defines 'blighted or deteriorated property' through eight alternative tests covering a vacant structure or land in a predominantly built-up neighborhood: a common-law or declared public nuisance; an attractive nuisance to children such as an abandoned well, shaft or excavation; a structure designated unfit for human habitation for being dilapidated, unsanitary, unsafe, vermin-infested or lacking required facilities; a fire hazard or danger to persons or property; a property whose utilities, plumbing, heating or sewage have been disconnected or destroyed so it is unfit for its intended use; a property that has become a trash or vermin haven through neglect; a property tax delinquent at least three years; or a property not rehabilitated within the code official's time limit.

Section 1103 creates the Vacant Property Review Commission, staffed by the same nine appointed members who sit on the Board of Zoning Appeals, meeting after the Board's monthly meeting as needed. Section 1104's procedure lets the code official order elimination of blight within a definite period not exceeding thirty days; failure to comply triggers referral to the Commission, which must notify the owner by certified mail or, if unreachable, by posted notice, and give ninety days before a public certification hearing.