JOHN COFFELTEditor

A controversial house moving request for Old Seminary Road was postponed by the Coffee County Planning Commission during the Sept. 24 meeting so the request for a special exception to allow the move could be heard by the Coffee County Board of Zoning Appeals.

The BZA, the final authority on many zoning matters short of court action, decided during the Thursday, Sept. 26 meeting to deny the request based on what the board thought was inadequate ingress and egress for the proposed three duplexes to be relocated on the narrow county road.

Multi-family dwellings in an RS-1 low density residential zone are allowed only with a special exception after review and approval by the BZA.

The duplexes were planned for a 17.53-acre lot owned by Larry Swan. He said at the meeting the project originated with the intention of providing a residence for an ailing relative. Swan lives on the site and has family living adjacent to his lot.

Several members of the Old Seminary Road community strongly opposed the duplexes citing property values, the condition of the road and that the rental property would in essence disturb the quality of the neighborhood.

While the BZA sided with the members and blocked the house moves, the BZA rejected basing the decision on how it could affect property values.

According to Auxiliary Member Helen Debellis, property values are speculative and are not part of the criteria used to determine the appropriateness of a special exception.

Local Surveyor Nicholas Northcutt, representing Swan, said the roadway was adequate for the addition of six families on the street.

“I have taken the liberty of contacting a traffic engineer,” Northcutt said.

“According to the Coffee County Highway Department, the minimum capacity standards for the smallest roads in Coffee County are designed for 2,000 trips per day,” he said quoting the engineer.

The cited total traffic calculated for the existing residents and the additional six households would add 32 trips per day for a total estimated trips of 102 per day. Northcutt noted that there were several commercial businesses on the road, including one across from Swan that sees deliveries by tractor trailers.

The neighboring residents brought to the planning commission concerns about deed restrictions concerning square foot restrictions.

Planning Commission Chairman Steve Cunningham and County Mayor and outgoing Planning Commission Member Dennis Hunt agreed that deed restrictions are outside the committee’s oversite.

“We don’t enforce deed restrictions,” Hunt said. “We don’t act on deed descriptions.”

Deeds are a legal document written and agreed upon by buyer and seller. Enforcement of that document would fall upon the civil court system. The Planning Commission’s responsibility is the development and enforcement of the county zoning resolutions.

Cunningham said a civil suit is the method to decide deed restriction disputes similar to property line disputes.

“We had an instance where a group came in because a housing development that came in in three phases,” Cunningham said. “One of the (restrictions) was high quality building material.”

Cunningham said that while the first phase was nice, the original developer sold the project to another one whose choice of materials was arguably not to the other’s standards.

“You get into those things, and there is nothing we could do,” he said. “You have to go someplace else.”

Neighbor Daniel Skelton shared concerns about traffic in the area if the duplex were relocated to the street.

“Traffic is an issue there now,” Skelton said. “There would be quite a bit more traffic. And there are a lot of children in that neighborhood. We have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so we certainly want to protest any change.”

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.