By Tabitha Evans Moore
EDITOR & PUBLISHER

LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The Metro Council will consider a one-year moratorium on new residential subdivisions, a $1 million, 20-year loan to replace water lines, and a revised version of developer Joe Denby’s Tanyard Hill Road rezoning it voted down last month when it meets on Monday, October 19.

A public hearing on two rezonings begins at 6:20 p.m., followed by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m., at the American Legion Building.

A ONE-YEAR PAUSE ON SUBDIVISIONS

The proposed amendment to the metro zoning resolution would impose a one-year moratorium “on the acceptance, processing, consideration, and approval of applications, and the issuance of associated permits, for major and minor subdivisions.”

During that year, no major or minor subdivision application “involving residential development, including single-family homes, townhomes, duplexes, and apartments” could be accepted, reviewed or approved “unless expressly exempted by this Resolution or by action of the Metropolitan Council.”

According to the draft, the pause would give the metro government time to update its comprehensive plan and development design standards; evaluate whether roads, water, wastewater, stormwater, public safety, sanitation and schools can handle more growth; rewrite zoning and subdivision rules as needed; and adopt policies for “orderly, safe, and sustainable development.” It would be added to the zoning resolution as Section 3.113.

The proposal grew out of a discussion at the council’s Sept. 21 meeting, when Dexter Golden, who chairs the Planning and Zoning Commission and was elected council chair pro tem that night, asked members for direction. He cited concerns about roads, crowding at the county’s schools and water supply, and said developers could get around a major-subdivision-only pause by splitting land among several names.

Council member John Oosting said the pause should cover both major and minor subdivisions. Robert Bracewell said six months would not be enough time. Chairperson Amy Cashion asked what a year would accomplish, saying the county needed to use the time for work and “not to just say no more.” Golden said he would take “major and minor” and “one year” back to the commission, and that commercial and industrial development would not be affected.

At that meeting, Golden also said land given to family members — “my son or my daughter or you know my cousin an acre of land” — “can still happen,” and that projects already before the commission would still be decided. The draft in Monday’s packet does not include an exemption for family transfers or a provision addressing applications already filed. It leaves those decisions to exemptions “by action of the Metropolitan Council.”

$1 MILLION FOR WATER LINES, AND A DEBT-POLICY CHANGE TO GET IT

The council will consider a resolution for a Utility Department loan through the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund’s fixed-rate Public Building Authority program. The resolution request form in the packet lists the purpose as “water system improvements, including water line replacement,” with a not-to-exceed amount of $1 million over 20 years and an expected adoption date of Oct. 19.

Under the terms in the packet the loan would be a general obligation of the metro government, also payable from water system revenues. The indicative rate is 4.81%, good for 45 days from Oct. 5. The rate is locked for five years at a time; the bank can change the rate or call the loan at each five-year mark with advance notice. The metro government could draw funds over three years and would pay interest only on what it has drawn. The loan cannot be prepaid during the first five years. Cost of issuance is 0.60%, or $6,000, paid from loan proceeds. If the full amount were drawn at closing, the bond fund’s schedule shows payments of about $78,500 to $79,400 a year through December 2046, with total interest of $578,931.60 and total repayment of $1,578,931.60.

If the council adopts the required initial resolution, it must be published once in a local newspaper, opening a 20-day protest period before the loan can go to the state Comptroller’s Office for approval.

A related item would amend the county’s debt management policy. In an Oct. 5 email to Metro Mayor Sloan Stewart, a bond fund representative wrote that legislation passed last year now classifies these loans as “heightened risk debt” because of the bank’s put option and its ability to change the rate. The representative wrote that the loan’s structure “has not changed,” but the metro government’s debt policy must be amended to allow heightened risk debt at the same meeting the loan resolution is adopted. The state also requires the metro government to show it looked at an alternative. The bond fund said it would send information on a separate program that locks the rate for the full term but carries higher issuance costs. That comparison is not in the packet, but will likely be discussed on Monday.

TANYARD HILL REZONING RETURNS

Joseph Denby’s request to rezone 9.4 acres at 3152 Tanyard Hill Road from A-1 agricultural to R-2 residential is back on first reading. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended it again Oct. 6. Denby is also the only person listed for public comment.

The previous council passed the request on first reading Aug. 17 by an 8-5 vote. After the new council was seated, it failed on second reading Sept. 21, 7-3, with Golden abstaining. Bracewell, Bradley Dye, Jayson Estfon, Brady Goodwin, Sunny Rae Moorehead, Payton Keller and Oosting voted no; Arvis Bobo, Cashion and Peggy Sue Blackburn voted yes.

The plat in the packet shows seven road-frontage lots of about 1 to 2.4 acres on the 9.4 acres being rezoned, plus a 13.89-acre Lot 8 at the rear that would stay agricultural, for a total of 23.25 acres. The resubmitted plan lists three changes:

• The visual easement on Lot 3 has been widened by 5 feet “to increase safety.”
• The ingress, egress and utility easement serving Lot 6 has been extended more than 50 feet.
• A new restriction states that “no further development of Lot 8 shall be permitted within 3 years of approval of the subdivision plat.”

If it passes Monday, the request would need another public hearing and second reading.

MOBILE HOME PARKS IN R-2

A separate ordinance, recommended by the Planning Commission Oct. 6, would add “Mobile Home Parks” to the uses allowed as special exceptions in the R-2 Residential-Rural Center district, regulated under the zoning ordinance’s existing development standards for mobile home parks in Article IV, Section 4.120. Special exceptions require approval from the Board of Zoning Appeals.

R-2 already allows travel trailer parks as a special exception, with stays limited to three months. Apartments with more than two units were removed from the district’s special exceptions in May 2025. The packet does not explain why the change was proposed, and the moratorium draft does not mention mobile home parks.

OTHER REZONINGS

The council will hold a first reading on rezoning 2.49 acres at 2670 Flat Creek Highway (Tax Map 011, Parcel 028.01) from A-1 to R-2. The property is owned by Weaver Land and Cattle LLC, listed as Mitchell Butler and Joel Weaver. The Planning Commission recommended it Oct. 6. The survey labels the request an “add-on/minor division.”

Two rezonings that passed first reading in September are up for public hearing and second reading: Tax Map 004, Parcel 007.00, from C-1 commercial to R-2, and Tax Map 046, Parcel 030.00, from A-1 to R-2. In September, Golden described the second as a small parcel being returned to its original residential zoning so a family member could build a house.

Also on the agenda

• Oak Barrel Half Marathon: Organizers ask to close three sides of the square from 4 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 3, 2027, for about 1,700 registered runners, with rolling partial closures from 8 a.m. to noon on Main Street, Highway 55/50, Old Fayetteville Highway, Goose Branch, Lois Ridge, Norman Wiseman, Tanyard Hill and Goodbranch roads and Campbell Lane. Organizers say the 2026 race returned more than $37,000 to local charities and organizations and spent more than $40,000 with local businesses.
• Surplus vehicles: The Sheriff’s Department asks to surplus four vehicles: a 2010 Ford Explorer with 201,204 miles, a 2017 Ford Police Interceptor Utility with 171,283 miles, a 2012 Ford Explorer with 178,643 miles and a 2021 Dodge Charger with 105,000 miles.
• Appointments: FY 2026-27 committee appointments, and notary appointments for Angie Pierce and Amanda Sabin.
• Reports: The September building permit report, which shows $2,700 in county fees, and an update from the Solid Waste Board, whose members were appointed in September.

Not on Monday’s agenda is the Gateway at Lynchburg lawsuit. The council voted 10-1 on Sept. 21 to defend the Planning Commission’s denial of the project’s preliminary site plan; the case is tentatively set for Dec. 14.

Metro Council meetings are open to the public and take place at the American Legion Building located at 129 Booneville Highway near the Lynchburg Swimming Pool. •

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