By Tabitha Evans Moore, EDITOR & PUBLISHER

On a rural Moore County road sits a property in obvious violation of local planning codes. On a single three quarter of an acre lot sits a doublewide trailer, five RVs, and a mini barn. They’ve attracted the attention of local law enforcement – who’ve been called to the address multiple times over the past year – as well as multiple disgruntled neighbors, who have complained to both the Metro Codes Department and their elected Metro Council member and yet, there is little the Metro Codes Department can do.

It’s situations like these that inspired the Metro Planning Commission to address the Metro Council on Monday seeking guidance for enforcement of Metro’s travel trailer ordinance. Metro Planning Commission Chair and Metro Council member Dexter Golden spoke to his fellow Council members on Monday looking for answers.

In June 2021, the Metro Council amended the existing ordinances surrounding the occupancy of individual travel trailers and recreational vehicles in the county. Under the new law, Metro allowed only the temporary occupancy of travel trailers and RVs during the construction of a new home or renovation of an existing home and for no longer than 180 days.

The change required citizens to obtain a permit and have access to an appropriate water and sewer system, as well as electricity. It also contained a hardship clause with those requests to be considered on a case-by-case basis through the Metro Planning Commission.

“It’s become a problem, especially for our Metro Codes Department, which receives quite a few calls each day,” Golden stated.

Currently, when the Metro Codes Department becomes aware of a travel trailer codes violation – usually through a citizen – the Codes Department’s Christine Pyrdom issues a letter to the resident informing them of the violation but with little teeth behind the enforcement, she says those letters often go ignored.

“We send them a letter stating that there is a possible ordinance violation, and very few even acknowledge it. The second letter gets sent out with the same response,” Pyrdom told the group.

It’s a civil not criminal matter.

Violation of local codes is a civil not a criminal matter. The Moore County Sheriff’s Department does not enforce potential codes violations and they do not enter Moore County’s General Sessions Court. Instead, enforcement options beyond letters include fines as well as civil lawsuits.

“This can be summed up in one word, and that’s civil,” explained Moore County Sheriff Tyler Hatfield. “None of these violations should be going through General Session Court because that is a criminal court. These are not criminal issues; they are civil issues. What it boils down to is how much money do you want to throw at it to solve the problem? It’s an extremely complex issue.”

Golden offered one suggestion and told the group that in Coffee County fines for codes violations get tacked onto a property owner’s yearly tax bill. Metro Attorney John T. Bobo added that Bedford County executes a similar policy – mostly for addresses inside the city limits.

“What we run into is that a lot of the people are tenants, or sometimes encumbered to the point that they are judgement-proof,” he added. “It just all comes down to the cost versus benefit of enforcement.”

It’s out of our hands.

Golden explained that in most cases complainants are instructed of the civil nature of the violation and told that one avenue of recourse would be a civil suit at their expense.

“That’s the best we can do in a lot of situations,” he explained.

Septic tank violations are another pathway to enforcement, according to Attorney Bobo, but that requires involving state officials. Another enforcement avenue would involve asking the Metro Utilities and/or DREMC to get aggressive about illegal connections.

“We do encourage people who suspect there is a septic issue or potential runoff to contact the state on that. Once again, that’s out of our hands,” Golden told Attorney Bobo.

Prydom told the room that few of the complaints she receives involve sewer issues but instead revolve around concerns that a neighbor’s property values will be adversely affected by what they consider to be “an eyesore.”

“Most of the time they are complaining because they don’t want their land devalued,” Pyrdom explained. “Sometimes the complaints come from inside subdivisions with an existing HOA, and I can’t enforce subdivision regulations.”

Golden bottom lined the issue towards the end of the discussion with a simple question: “How do we explain to people that we have an ordinance on the books that we can’t enforce?”

After about 20 minutes of discussion, Metro Council Chair Pro Tem Gerald Burnett ended the discussion. The Council directed Golden and the Metro Planning Commission to discuss the issue in their next meeting and come back to the Council with a list of potential solutions.

The next Metro Planning Commission meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 6 at 4:30 p.m. at the County Building. The next Metro Council meeting will take place on Monday, February 19 at the American Legion Building. Any member of the general public who wished to be heard during the public comment period should contact the Metro Codes office at 931-759-7068 or the Mayor’s office at 931-759-7076 to be added to the public comment section of the meeting. •

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