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The Board of Mayor and Aldermen denied a residential rezoning of a property locally referred to as the Anderson farm, located behind Tara Estates and Macon Manor.

The property owners, Beth and Henry Pazcko, have presented their intention for the property in as much detail as is required for the rezoning request. Property owners are not required to present detailed plans of future construction plans when requesting a rezoning, but due to the public interest in the property, they have discussed their intent in two separate public meetings.

A rezoning of property within city limits must first pass through the Planning Commission, where it was approved with the recommendation that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BoMA) approve the ordinance. In order for ordinances to be approved and take effect, they must be approved on two readings by the board.

The Pazckos submitted a request to rezone the property from agricultural to low-density residential (R-1) zoning district to support residential development of the property. The property adjoins agricultural and R-1 districts on all sides.

Public water and sewer services are available to the property, and the property has direct access to E. Grundy Street and Tara Boulevard. The property owners additionally shared their ongoing attempts to purchase additional property to create more public street access to lessen the burden on existing neighborhood drives.

Alderman Kurt Glick made a motion that the board not approve the rezoning request “because of concerns for the public health, safety and welfare due to unknown impacts to the environment, infrastructure and fiscal stability of the city.”

Alderman Jenna Amacher expressed her concern about the future of the property in regards to the active work to update the 2011 comprehensive plan and the Tullahoma land use map.

“We do not know what the overlay for the future of that property will be,” she said. “We cannot tell them what they can and cannot do as long as they are within the parameters of that rezone. I don’t want anyone to think that the only reason the motion to deny or my vote is because of neighborhood opposition; in fact, it is quite the contrary. I believe that there are legitimate concerns from the liability of the city, and to that standpoint, we need to be proactive and proceed with caution.”

Alderman Daniel Berry elaborated on the differences between the Planning Commission and BoMA in regards to their ability to deny a rezoning request. The Planning Commission cannot deny a request based solely on neighborhood opposition, but rather must have expert witness testimony to support opposition based on concerns for infrastructure or impact.

“On the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, we’re a legislative body,” he went on to say. “We can deny a rezone simply because of neighborhood opposition, as long as we state that. Can it be challenged? Yes, you can challenge anything in court, but the bar is much higher to overcome when it comes from a legislative body. I do want to say that I agree with most of the comments, that we did not look enough into infrastructure and these different pieces. I think that was a failing on our part. We’ve known about this for five to six months, so during that time we should have held study sessions and talk with all of these different groups. Staff did, but I don’t believe we did.”

He went on to provide information he had obtained from local leaders from Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA), the school board and others addressing issues of public concern about the property rezoning.

He shared that TUA president Brian Skelton confirmed TUA has adequate capacity to handle the “worst case scenario” of an additional 500-600 homes being built on that lot. He further shared that upgrades would need to be completed to certain facilities, with the financial obligation being on the property developers.

According to Berry’s information, the school system is preparing for an influx of students and is confident in their ability to handle an increase in the student body. He stated that plans are in place for construction for Jack T. Farrar Elementary that will free up classrooms across the city.

“I do see some heads are shaking,” he said, referring to the audience in attendance, “but all it takes is a phone call to our superintendent to answer these questions. It takes a phone call to Brian Skelton at TUA to answer these questions. I feel that we failed to do that in a more public setting. I feel that we should have held sessions where we asked these people to come in and present. Because we failed to do that, I will vote to deny this rezoning.”

The motion to deny the rezoning passed 6-1, with Mayor Ray Knowis against.