JOHN COFFELTEditor

A sign goes up in your neighborhood saying that the new owner is requesting the property be rezoned, now what? What can you do? How will this impact the neighborhood?

Manchester Community Development and Zoning Director Brittany Fiske explains some of the details concerning residential zoning and how a request for rezoning works.

“If anyone has any questions, reach out,” Fiske said. “One of my favorite things to do it put things into terms where the general public can understand it. Even I get lost in these terms sometimes working with these engineers.”

First the basics, residential zoning is divided into five categories in increasing density from low density R-1 to the newly created R-5 mobile home zone.

Density is controlled by minimum lot regulations, the type of dwelling allowed on it and amount of square footage allotted per family.

In low density R-1 only single family dwellings are allowed and lost must be at least 15,000 square feet, but as the density increases, the minimum lot size and required setback distances are reduced. In an R-4 high density zone, multi-family dwellings are allowed on 9,000 square foot lots with 3,000 square foot of space required for each family.

What this means is a developer could theoretically divide a one acre (43,560 square foot) property into just under three lots to build on in R-1, but if that property is zoned R-4 that could give the builder the flexibility to put just under four lots on it. When building costs are seeing unprecedented inflation, those extra houses could mean the difference in success or failure in the venture.

“If you’re a developer, the first thing you should know is what zone the property is and what is allowed in that zone,” Fiske said.

“Typically a piece of property they find is not zoned what the density for what they would like to use for. So they will call me and ask, if I want to … fit a duplex on it instead of a single family house, how do I go about that?” Fiske said.

Rezoning a property requires a process that begins with the planning commission, but the actual rezoning requires a change in the city ordinances, which can only be done by two readings by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

Fiske said that she cannot deny anyone the chance to request a rezoning, but will caution developers that if their request could fail if the request doesn’t match the land use plans.

A developer that decides to move forward will fill out an application, and the request goes before the Manchester Planning Commission where it will receive a positive or negative recommendation to go to BOMA. At the planning commission meeting and then at the BOMA meetings, the boards will invite the public to comment on the proposal.

Fiske said that the city’s zoning map and related land use plan are the guiding documents that govern decisions concerning zoning requests.

If a property matches others in the area it would likely be approved.

“I think the biggest thing the planning commission and myself should do is follow what we are supposed to be doing, referring back to the land use plan,” Fiske said.

“I get it, people don’t typically like change, but as long as we’re abiding like we’re supposed to be…” she added.

Often at these public meetings, the question is asked what the builder intends to do with the property, and while he or she may have a pretty good idea, the specifics of the project are not yet required.

For a major subdivision of five lots or more, the developer will first appear before the Planning Commission for a preliminary plat. That’s the general layout of the development.

Once that’s approved, there’s construction plans and the infrastructure is in place and they are ready to build, they bring a final plat to Planning for approval. They the developer can start pulling building permits.

This process is all together a different matter than getting a property rezoned. All these stages could only be approved and proceed if they fit within their zoning district.

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.