By Katie Northcott, News Director
Rezoning from residential to commercial continues to be a controversial issue on the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) as the BOMA discussed two such rezonings at its meeting on Monday, April 13.
The first rezoning request, which was approved on its second and final reading, concerned a property on East Lincoln St. near the water tower and bottling plant. The second request, which failed on its first reading, concerned two parcels on Cedar Lane that are located behind the Coffee County Health Department.
Nicholas Northcutt addressed the BOMA about the first request, stating that the applicant wished to build apartments on the property. He said the parcel is sandwiched between two properties that were zoned for commercial use.
The BOMA approved the request to rezone the property from R-1 to C-3 with a 5-1-0-1 vote. Alderman Busch Thoma cast the lone opposing vote, and Alderman Bobbie Wilson was absent.
“It seems like we’re changing a pretty big extreme from an R-1 to a C-3,” Thoma said.
Christy Surber submitted the rezoning application for the property on Cedar Lane. She said that the construction at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Wilson Avenue led her to submit the application.
She currently operates a salon out of a residence on one parcel, so a certain amount of commercial activity already transpires on the property. A gas station being constructed across the street from the parcels and storage units, the Health Department, and a church adjacent to the parcels constitute other commercial activity near the parcels.
Thoma said that he had grown up in the residence that is currently being used as a salon. He raised concerns about adding more traffic to an already congested area and said that the commercial uses were “old” and did not justify adding new commercial development to the area.
“To me, it’s still residential. It still has houses behind it, and it has a church,” Thoma said. “We’re still dealing with the issue of what are we going to do with Cedar Lane.”
The motion to approve the rezoning request failed 3-3-0-1 (Alderman Jerry Mathis, Alderman Kurt Glick, and Thoma opposed; Wilson absent).
The Tullahoma Planning Commission discussed Surber’s application as well as the future of Cedar Lane at a meeting on March 16. Find reporting on that discussion here.
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