John Coffelt, Editor

The Coffee County Planning Commission recommended during the March 26 meeting that the County Commission approve a rezoning request made by County Mayor Dennis Hunt for the state-owned I-24 Industrial Site (formerly called the Megasite).

The recommendation comes from the commission with a 3-0 vote and one abstain from Planning member Laura Vazquez who abstained from every vote at the request of the mayor.

Hunt said he requested Vazquez, who was confirmed by the County Commission at the last meeting, to abstain from voting due to her inexperience and having not yet attended any of the state required training. Vasquez works as a part-time administrative assistant in the Mayor’s Office.

Present for the meeting were Chairman Steve Cunningham, Laura Nettles and Randy Herald, with Vasquez making a quorum. Members Rodney Duncan, Sammy Anderson and Anastasia Gonzales were absent.

“I am here on behalf of the state of Tennessee to request the appropriate zoning designation be applied to the (site),” Hunt said.

He said the rezoning, if approved, would rezone all four parcels from A-1 agricultural to M-2 General Industrial. This would be a step that a potential tenant would not have to go through to develop the site.

Industrial Board Executive Director Anne Honea Majors said that the site is being marketed for aerospace and defense industries that would mirror that of Tullahoma and Arnold Air Force Base.

“The Industrial Board … we’re not the ones to bring this up,” Majors said. “Mayor Hunt came to us and said we’re going through all this stuff – he thought it was an appropriate time, and we’re supportive of that.”

“At the end of the day, once the state locates things, it will end up being zoned industrial one way or another. This just kinda touched on some of those processes as we work through our state industry here,” she said.

Majors agreed with Chairman Cunningham’s assessment that the rezoning would make the site more attractive to prospective industry. She added that it shows the State that the county is in support of what they’re trying to do with the site.

“As much as they are going incentivize our community, the people that come here and help create jobs for our citizens. This is just one of the smaller things that we can do to show that we are in support and that we are behind the State, and we want to showcase their site,” Majors said. 

The announcement that Hunt would request the rezoning came just days after the County Commission narrowly passed a 180-day moratorium on the Planning Commission hearing major subdivision requests in A-1 agricultural districts, the action critics (including both Tullahoma and Manchester mayors) say will label the county as anti-growth and impede industry and retail recruitment.    

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.