JOHN COFFELTContributor

The Coffee County Planning Commission recommended at the Nov. 25 meeting a change in the zoning resolution that governs residential access easements and right of ways in the Urban Growth Boundary.

The proposed change, if passed by the County Commission, would reduce the required strip of land from 50 feet to 30 feet. This change would be across all zoning districts but would be limited to residential structures.

Planning Commission member Rodney Duncan said the change is designed to promote development in the UGB rather than in the A-1 agricultural zones.

“I’m trying to move people into the area,” Duncan said.  “Fifty foot is a lot to get to a residence. That is (over) the width of a four-lane highway,” Duncan said.

According to Planning, Zoning, and Codes Administrator Director Kirt Gray, easements can only cross one parcel and access one property.

According to local surveyor Nicholas Northcutt, the change could promote additional flag lots.

He also questioned the Commission’s initial proposed reduction of the access to 25 feet, which would be narrower than what is required in the two cities’ municipal subdivision regulations.

Developments in the UGB would be under the jurisdiction of those regulations.

The term “right-of-way” specifically refers to the right of passage across another person’s property, whereas “easement” is a broader term for the right to use land for a specific, limited purpose. The Planning Commission addressed both with the proposed change.