LYNCHBURG — Developers would like to move ahead with selling lots for a Phase 2 of the tiny home community along Main Street. Local officials say that as submitted, the new plans don’t meet the recently approved minimum lot size in the subdivision guidelines.
That is the standstill the two seem to be at following Tuesday’s September Metro Planning and Zoning Commission meeting where discussion over the Retreat at Whiskey Creek development once again reached an impasse as developer representative Rance Frye pressed for approval of a 14-lot preliminary plat for Phase 2 of the tiny home community, while the Planning Commission maintained that the commission’s hands are tied by recently updated subdivision rules.
As readers may recall, the Planning Commission elected to table the tiny home community’s preliminary site plan for a Phase 2 during their August meeting based on three main concerns: road access, bridge safety, and whether the proposed lot sizes met updated zoning standards.{To read our full coverage of that meeting, click here.}
On Tuesday, Oakstone Land & Capital’s Rance Frye argued that his project was caught in transition – submitted under the old R-1 rules that allowed 7,500-square-foot lots but tabled while the county moved toward a half-acre minimum.
The Metro Council voted unanimously to amend Article V, Section 5.043 in the Metro Zoning Ordinances to the half-acre minimum in both their July and August meetings.
Frye argued that his team invested in engineering work and topographical studies with the understanding that the original rules were still “alive” when the plan was filed.
“We’re still here with the original one we had, which is the 14 lots,” Frye told commissioners. “We would like to have that approved as a preliminary plat.”
Planning Commission Chair Dexter Golden acknowledged the effort but stressed that the commission is bound by the regulations currently in force.
“The only path forward now would be to ask the council to do something different,” Golden said. “At the moment what we have is our book … we show up, we handle what’s in that book, and we pretty well go forward.”
Frye countered that the regulations also contain provisions for variances in cases of “extraordinary hardships or practical difficulties,” noting that only one of the 14 proposed lots exceeded the 15 percent slope threshold currently at play in Metro’s subdivision rules.
“We’re not a standard subdivision. Never have been, don’t want to be,” Frye said, adding that his project would generate tax revenue without putting strain on local services.
Golden pushed back on that interpretation of variances.
“What I look at a variance … is if you had a lot come in at 1.6 acres when the requirement is two, we’d work with you to make that usable,” he said. “As far as something exceptional – that’s a matter of opinion. That’s how I see it.”
The conversation circled back several times to timing. Frye emphasized that the preliminary plat was submitted before final approval of the new R-1 rules at the Metro Council. Golden and other commissioners noted that years of delay in construction progress had eroded goodwill.
“Two years later … ain’t got nothing done,” member Jeff Ross said, bluntly.
Neighborhood impact at the construction entrance
Beyond the lot sizes and variances, both commissioners and Metro Roads Superintendent Shannon Cauble raised pointed questions about how construction traffic would flow in and out of the development. At issue was the use of the Inman property entrance, a narrow residential road located near 1081 Main Street.
In June, Jeff Norman, a neighbor who shares that narrow drive, appeared before the Commission to voice concerns about potential damage from construction traffic. He argued that while the driveway is subject to a legal easement, it was never intended to handle the weight and frequency of concrete trucks. {To read our complete coverage of that meeting, click here.}
Golden and Cauble both pressed Frye on whether the entrance could safely handle county emergency vehicles and school buses should families eventually occupy the homes.
“At the end of the day, you could have a family move in one of these houses,” Golden said, emphasizing the county’s liability if infrastructure fails.
Frye acknowledged the concern but argued that every road carries some risk. He proposed gating the entrance for emergency use only and suggested scheduling deliveries on designated days with flaggers to manage traffic.
“We’ve done this before,” Frye said. “We had flaggers posted all day Friday in North Carolina developments, and it worked.”
Still, the exchange highlighted the strain between private development goals and community safety expectations. For commissioners, the entrance symbolizes the potential burden on Moore County residents if infrastructure shortcuts are allowed. For Frye, it represents another regulatory hurdle slowing progress on a project he insists will bring revenue, not residents, to the county.
Ultimately, the commission agreed to leave the project on the table for another month while seeking legal counsel on whether Frye’s proposal should be judged under the new half-acre standard or the prior 7,500-square-foot rule. That decision could determine whether Whiskey Creek’s next phase moves forward or faces another reset.
The Metro Planning Commission meets the first Tuesday of each month. They will meet again on Tuesday, October 7 at 5:30 p.m. at the County Building. There is a public comment section at each meeting. If you would like to be added to the agenda, contact the Metro Codes office at 931-759-7068. •
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