By Tabitha Evans Moore
Editor & Publisher

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — A rezoning request the Metro Council rejected by an 11-2 vote last month is moving forward, this time in a smaller form that cleared first reading Monday night, 8-5.

The property, tax map 037, parcel 037.00 on Tanyard Hill Road, is owned by Joe Denby, doing business as Denby’s J&J Construction. In July, Denby asked the council to rezone the full 23.25-acre tract from A-1 (agricultural) to R-2 (residential), which would have allowed lots as small as one acre. That request failed 11-2 amid concerns from council members about road safety on a curve with a 45 mph speed limit and about how many additional homes the zoning change could eventually allow if the land were divided further.

This is the second time the council has taken up rezoning for this parcel since July. Read our coverage of the original request and its 11-2 rejection here.

The version before the council this time covers roughly 9.4 acres — the road-frontage portion of the same tract. The remaining 13.89 acres, which both Denby and Planning officials have said is too steep to build on, would stay zoned agricultural. Surveyor Nicholas Northcutt, representing Denby, told the council the reduced request removes the future-development uncertainty that concerned members in July, since further division of the agricultural remainder would not be possible under the smaller rezoning.

The measure passed on a 8-5 margin with members Arvis Bobo, Peggy Blackburn, Robert Bracewell, Gerald Burnett, Amy Cashion, Jimmy Hammond, Greg Guinn, and Dexter Golden voting in favor and members Sunny Rae Moorehead, Marty Cashion, Bradley Dye, Shane Taylor, and Douglas Carson voting against. John Taylor and Houston Lindsey were absent from the meeting.

Northcutt, who has represented Denby’s rezoning bid before both the Planning Commission and the council since the spring, used part of his public comment time to walk the council through the process month by month. He said he first sought to apply for rezoning in late March and was told at the Metro Codes office that a completed plat was required before an application could be submitted. He said an April resubmission stalled when the county required signatures on the plat from the Highway Department and a state environmental office, two of which were not obtainable on short notice, and that the project missed the June Planning Commission meeting because no representative was present to speak to it. Northcutt went to so far as to accuse the Council of being guilty of slander and defamation.

Council Chair Amy Cashion pushed back on Northcutt’s characterization of last month’s discussion, telling him no council member had used his name or questioned his professionalism and that the discussion in July was about the county’s procedures, not about him personally. She defended Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Dexter Golden’s handling of the request, and acknowledged the county has gaps in its documented rezoning procedures that officials are working to address.

Officials scheduled a public hearing on the request at 6:20 p.m. before next month’s council meeting. A second and final vote would follow. The September meeting will take place on September 21 at 6:30 p.m. in the American Legion Building. Any citizen who would like to make a public comment should contact Mayor Sloan Stewart’s office at 931-759-7076. •

About the Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times is Moore County’s locally owned, independent news source and the only local media source owned by a Lynchburg native. Our reporting is supported by readers, small business partners, and underwriters who believe community journalism matters. If this story was valuable to you, consider becoming a supporter at lynchburgtimes.com.