Hundreds of thousands of dollars spent, thousands of work hours contributed and the 2045 Comprehensive Plan is still in limbo as the Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted on first reading to rescind the ordinance that they passed earlier this year.

The move to rescind the plan that will guide the city’s growth for the next two decades comes as factions of city leadership believe the plan would be better as a resolution than an ordinance. Supporters of rescinding the plan want to go back and pass it again, this time as a resolution.

“A compressive plan is not meant to be binding,” City Attorney Brittany Hoskins told the board. These documents are made to be flexible. In my opinion I think it is wiser for the board to adopt this as a resolution. But you can do it either way. This is a decision for the board to make.”

Given the many years it has taken to get a new comprehensive plan on the books, public comment was heard, wondering why city officials are waffling now.

During that public comment, local resident Chuck Dean pointed out that the city paid a lot of money to develop the 2045 Plan (and prior to that the scrapped 2040 Plan).

“$200,000 was a lot to spend if the city was going to make that a powerless resolution,” Dean noted, adding that the city has been under an ordinance plan since at least 2011 so backing it down to a resolution makes no sense.

“I like the 2045 Plan. I don’t want to change it,” said Alderman Busch Thoma. “I’m just concerned about potential for lawsuits.”

Aldermen Kurt Glick responded that lawsuits from a comprehensive plan is the least of the city’s worries.

“The ordinance is more binding but that is what we want for our long term plan,” Glick argued of keeping the 2045 Plan as an ordinance, noting they could always change it later on if there are issues by going through the process. “It shouldn’t be anything that could be changed on a whim. An ordinance can be changed on two readings but that gives it time for pause and for people to reflect and make sure they are doing the right thing.”

Glick said he believes the city should foremost protect the people who live in Tullahoma. “Leave it alone and leave it as an ordinance.”

Alderman Bobbie Wilson is against changing the plan to a resolution. “This board is making a terrible mistake,” she said of rescinding the present ordinance. “We wouldn’t be improving the comprehensive plan but we would be weakening it. This is a deliberate weakening of the comprehensive plan.”

She said the move to charge the plan to a resolution is a step backwards.

Hoskins stuck to her advice that having the 2045 Plan as a resolution would be better for the city.

“I think it’s wiser for this board to pass it as a resolution because it doesn’t tie your hands as much and you can’t be held to the fire as much,” she said.

Mayor Lynn Sebourn pointed out that the plan does not have rules but instead is just a plan of how the city would like things to be someday.

“Our property is not protected by the comprehensive plan. Our property is protected by the zoning regulations which are an ordinance,” the mayor said, noting he felt the 2045 Plan would work either as a resolution of ordinance.

The board of mayor and aldermen voted to repeal the ordinance. Mayor Sebourn and Alderman Sernobia McGee, Matthew Bird and Busch Thoma voted to rescind while Aldermen Kurt Glick, Jerry Mathis and Bobbie Wilson voted to keep the ordinance.