The 2045 Comprehensive Plan is now a resolution after the board of mayor and aldermen voted to rescind the plan as an ordinance and then accept it instead as a resolution.

The plan, which is a roadmap of how the city would like to grow in the next 20 years, was ratified earlier this year as an ordinance after years of planning which first began in 2020 with the 2040 Plan which was never adopted. However, after over $200,000 was spent and thousands of hours put into coming up with a new plan, the 2045 Plan became an ordinance. Following that passage some members of the board noted that it might be safer to just have it on the books as a resolution rather than an ordinance as the ordinance could be seen as more restrictive. Thus began a debate that divided the city board down the middle with four wanting to change to a resolution while three wanted it to stay as an ordinance.

Alderman Bobbie Wilson was one of the three who resisted repealing the ordinance and replacing it with a resolution.

“I believe the citizens of Tullahoma deserve to know 2hat about repealing ordinance 1675 is in their best interests?” she questioned as to the move to change the ordinance to a resolution. “What legal advantage does Tullahoma gain by repealing it?”

She pointed out that it appears the main reason for the move to make 2045 into a resolution is because other cities have make their comprehensive plans into resolutions rather than ordinances. She noted that the change does not impact the wording of the Comprehensive Plan.

“This is not an insignificant document,” she pointed out. “It establishes the framework this city uses when considering growth, development and land use decisions.”

Alderman Kurt Glick agreed with Wilson, noting the previous plans were all adopted by ordinance. He said the move to change the ordinance to a resolution does not sit right.

“It makes us look wishy-washy,” he said. “There’s no real reason stated why we are trying to repeal this ordinance and then adopt it by resolution. It really doesn’t change anything. When you see people coming in wanting to invest in our community they want to see stability.”

He pointed out that a resolution can be changed in one meeting while an ordinance takes two separate readings. “A resolution is a very volatile thing and it could stifle some investment in our community because people aren’t sure of what they will get in the future.”

Mayor Lynn Sebourn debated that the resolution regarding the Comprehensive Plan could be changed on a whim. He pointed out such a change would need the approval of the planning commission first.

“The plan being changed overnight, that simply can’t happen,” the mayor said, noting such a move would need a public meeting before planning could bounce it back to the board of mayor and aldermen.

Prior to the final vote to rescind and then to pass the plan as a resolution, Alderman Wilson wanted to know who first sponsored the repeal. City Administrator Jeff Damron revealed it was Alderman Busch Thoma was the one who started the move to repeal.

Thoma was among the four votes that led to the repeal of the ordinance at the last BoMA meeting as he voted along with Mayor Sebourn, Sernobia McGee and Matthew Bird to rescind the ordinance and make it a resolution. Glick, Wilson and Alderman Jerry Mathis voted to keep it an ordinance.