The members of the planning board have changed again. Bob Dorris moved out of the city, so he has been replaced by Mike Honeycutt of Tennessee Realty Partners. Mayor Bibb is also on the board now. Your board consists of Tim Murphy, Dolly Peay, Addam McCormick, Mayor Bibb, Clif Hutson, Martha Wilkinson, and Mike Honeycutt. There were about 25 people in attendance.
The first items on the agenda always go quickly. The agenda was approved with the removal of items 8 and 9. The minutes were approved and the annual election took place. Addam McCormick was the first choice for chairperson, he is the current chair person. Mike Honeycutt had just been added to the board, and several members wanted to make him vice chair. Honeycutt was vice chair at the Sumner County Commission at one point, but did not feel qualified to be chair on the planning board as this was his first meeting. Clif Hutson was voted in as vice chair.
Items 1-4 were consent only items. All four were approved.
{Deferred from July Planning Commission} Item # 5 Staff: Requests Recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to amend the Zoning Ordinance, Article V, Section 5.053.2 to add an Industrial Overlay District to include certain boundaries within I-1, Light Industrial. This item was skipped. I am unsure as to why.
{Public Hearing} Item # 6 Staff: Requests Recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to amend the Zoning Ordinance to move Article V, Section 5.053.2, C-2, General Commercial, B. #22. “Automobile Sales” from a permitted use to permitted as a special exception after review and approval by the Board of Zoning and Appeals. No one had signed up to speak to this item. This is a recommended change to the zoning in the city. As of now, major auto repair shops have been moved to special exception in commercial areas. Ceagus Clark, planning director, wants to add language to that zoning to include car dealerships. The board would like more time to look into this and so it was deferred.
{Public Hearing} Item # 7 Cox’s Place/Gretchen Cox: Requests Recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen to annex approximately 21.27 acres and Preliminary Plat Approval. Request is further made to rezone properties from Agricultural Residential to R-40, Large Lot Residential District. Property is referenced as Robertson County Tax Map 095, Parcel 095.00, 096.00 and 097.00. Property is located at Pleasant Grove Road. Owner: Douglas P. and Gretchen Cox The owners of this property have requested annexation and permission to build four houses on the 20+ acres.
The property is located on this photo where the land has been disturbed. There were three people signed up to speak on this. Debra F. lives on the property to the north of the request and spoke first. She stated that the property was purchased in 2020. The asked the county to be able to build four houses. The county told them they needed to put in a private road. In order to build this road, they needed five acres of Debra’s property. She declined to sell. They started excavation on the property in September of 2021. The pond was drained and a pipe was put in. Debra now has water in her property. For four months Legacy trucking out of Hendersonville has been dumping field dirt on the property. Debra called the county. Cox, owner of the property was issued a violation. The pipe they put in needs to be moved. Debra claims Cox is asking for annexation into the city to avoid the violation. Debra is asking that they not be annexed and that they need to settle the issue with the county properly.
James H, another neighbor spoke next. He lives next door to Debra. He is also getting water from this property. He states that the pond that was drained caught water from Holly Tree. He is now getting water on all sides from the building in that area. Debra H, and Mr. Morrison were also signed up to speak, but passed since Debra F. had given all of the information. Shawn T. spoke up and didn’t realize he needed to sign up to speak, this was his first meeting. He asked why they would need to be annexed and what would be the positive of that. The answer was city water and sewer. With city annexation comes city sewer.
The conversation then turned to the board. Addam restated that this property was in trouble with the county. Clark said that the triplex on the property had requested annexation a few years ago. It was in disrepair and did not benefit the city. The city was unaware of the other issues when this current request had been make. City engineer Reynolds stated that storm water issues would need to be resolved one way or another. They would not need a storm water plan for annexation, but they would need to coordinate with TDEC to resolve the issues. City Administrator, Gerald Herman, stated that the city should have higher storm water standards than the county. Also, the citizens of the city want larger lots and this project seemed like a good fit. Dan W, contractor for the property was asked to speak. He admitted that they might need to redo the piping and resolve the culvert issues. Clark then told the board that there is nothing the city can require from them concerning storm water until they are annexed. Tim Murphy asked if it would be better to be in the city to deal with the water issues. Mike Honeycutt stated it would be best to have it annexed. The city is better suited to handle this. Debra F. spoke up and said that the county has already told the owners that there will not be building permits issued until it is fixed. She has no confidence that the same people who created the problem will fix the problem. McCormick stated that the city would not issues permits without resolution to the water problem either. Honeycutt then recommended that the owners withdraw their request so it could be revisited. Hutson also chimed in that the county should have the same water standards as the city. The owners were not in attendance and could not withdraw the request. There was some confusion about what motion was on the table. Eventually, a motion to deny until the water issues are resolved was put forth. That was seconded and passed. The annexation of the property on Pleasant Grove Road was denied.
Item # 8 Dorris Farm at Willow Springs-Ph 1, Sec 1: Requests Final Plat Approval for 86 single family lots. Property is referenced as Sumner County Tax Map 96, Portion of Parcels 5.00, 5.01, & 5.04. Property is zoned SRPUD, Suburban Residential Planned Unit Development and is located at Tyree Springs Road. Owner: Farmstead Development, LLC Removed from agenda
Item # 9 Dorris Farm at Willow Springs-Ph 1 Sec 2: Requests Final Plat Approval for 41 single family lots. Property is referenced as Sumner County Tax Map 96, Portion of Parcels 5.00, 5.01, & 5.04. Property is zoned SRPUD, Suburban Residential Planned Unit Development and is located at Tyree Springs Road. Owner: Farmstead Development, LLC Removed from agenda
Item # 10 Summerlin-Ph 8: Requests Final Plat Approval for 32 single family lots. Property is referenced as Sumner County Tax Map 96, Parcel 55.01. Property is zoned SRPUD, Suburban Residential Planned Unit Development is located at McCurdy Road. Owner: Clayton Properties Group, Inc. No discussion, Approved
Item # 11 Copes Crossing-Ph 1A: Requests Final Plat Approval for 7 singlefamily lots. Property is referenced as Sumner County Tax Map 77, Parcel 84. Property is zoned NCRPUD, Neighborhood Center Residential Planned Unit Development and is located at Tyree Springs Road. Owner: Pulte Homes Tennessee Limited Partnership There was some discussion about the road that comes through by the cemetery. There is a 10 foot access road that is on the plan. The audience was not privy to the plans that the board was looking at. This was approved.
The meeting was adjourned. Please continue to be involved with your local politics. If Debra had not shown up to this meeting, the board would have had no idea that the land disturbance was causing so many issues for the neighbors.
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Thank you, Nikki!