Memphis-Shelby County Schools system leaders are in the market for property after members of the Memphis City Council cooled on a site selected for a new high school in Cordova.
Council members pulled back on a permit with a 1-7-2 vote during the Tuesday, Nov. 12 meeting, after business leaders criticized the location at 7801 Fischer Steele Rd.
Student safety was a primary concern.
“The biggest concern, obviously, is the heavy traffic areas,” said car dealership owner Ernie Norcross. “We have 25-50 eighteen wheelers that come down Moriarity and Fischer Steele Road a week, delivering anything from cars to hazardous chemicals.”
Norcross’ Mazda dealership, along with other nearby operations also use the adjacent Moriarity Rd. as an unloading point for deliveries. During the meeting, he also served as spokesman for the 200-plus member Cordova Neighborhood Business Association.
“That is going to be complicated because our neighbor will be the school system,” said Norcross.
Brady said surrounding roads – including Moriarity – would be widened to accommodate the extra flow of traffic.
“All of the perimeter roads will be improved.”
In addition to congested roadways and the possibility of muddling business operations, the previous use of hazardous materials by commercial entities formerly located at the property was another cause for concern.
Council misgivings came in spite of clean environmental reports from MSCS-hired consultants. State environmental regulators gave a thumbs up to the site too. CSX Transportation has also released all use restrictions on the property after issuing a “correction deed.”
“The conclusion for all the assessments have been the same. That is that the site is suitable for development,” said Independent Land Solutions consultant Corey Brady.
Moreover, Land Use Control Board members backed the deal in the summer.
“The staff report affirms that the new East Region High School development fully complies with all provisions of the unified development code,” said Brady. “Eleven offices within the Division of Land Development have reviewed this application…we did not receive a single negative comment pertaining to this application, or request.”
For the most part, the location was selected for its size. Available properties suitable to meet the demands of a large high school are in short supply.
“We’ve taken a few opportunities to explore additional locations,” said MSCS Superintendent Dr. Marie Feagins. “Most of the barriers that we encountered would be size.”
The mostly vacant 40-acre plus property is zoned for heavy industrial use. The surrounding businesses are a mix of industrial and commercial. It complies with the regulations of Memphis 3.0.
New high schools for Cordova and Frayser are included in an estimated $750 million plan to expand the Regional One Health campus. Shelby County Commissioners have already approved the first $350 million. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has so far failed in his mission to gain funding from the state.
“I know the funds aren’t there right now. We’ve got too many other things to deal with…especially putting kids at risk,” said Edmund Ford, Sr.
The rejection not only delays a plan to hand the keys to Germantown Elementary and Middle Schools to the Germantown Municipal School District, but stalls the sale of Germantown High School. Money from the sale is earmarked for the Cordova school’s construction costs – which have risen significantly.
The three schools remained a part of MSCS after the 2014 demerger broke the system into seven pieces – one for each municipality. A funding commitment for Shelby County to cover the costs of the Cordova school was also agreed upon.
A transfer is mandated by a state law that requires the schools to belong to the districts they are physically located in.
The same law also put time limits on the participants, which included MSCS and the Germantown Municipal School District, as well as the governments of Shelby County and Germantown.
Shelby County would have been noted as the funding source on the property. Approval would have allowed the project to move onto the design phase of the project.
It was the second property considered for the project.
