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Council approves rezoning to allow new subdivision




Trudy Crafton pleaded with the Portland City Council to vote against the rezoning of the property on TGT Road. Crafton has spoken to the council several times on this issue.BONNIE FUSSELL

Trudy Crafton pleaded with the Portland City Council to vote against the rezoning of the property on TGT Road. Crafton has spoken to the council several times on this issue.BONNIE FUSSELL

The controversial rezoning of property located on TGT Road to clear a path for a proposed subdivision

passed on second reading at the City of Portland Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting on Aug. 5. The

rezoning was recently denied at the June 17 meeting. The property will now be rezoned from R-40 to R-

15.

At the June 17 meeting, TGT Road residents Trudy Crafton, Randall Hinton, and Daniel Shaub expressed concerns about the rezoning of the property. Crafton told the BOMA that the city did not have the resources to take on that many houses and referenced the recent increase in the sewer rates of 15%.

Hinton expressed concerns about recurring flooding issues on TGT Road and the traffic issues a subdivision would create, especially with TGT Road becoming a cul-de-sac with the proposed TDOT by-pass.

Shaub questioned whether the road would be capable of safely handling additional traffic.  Don Fleming spoke in favor of the rezoning. He owns property adjoining the land on TGT Road.

Contractor and proposed subdivision developer Brandon Frank stated that he would be financially prepared to address the road in front of the property as well as the flooding issues. He plans to have lots of 2,400 to 2,700 square feet and would build houses selling for around $300,000.

Vice-mayor John Kerley said that he couldn’t go forward unless the water and sewer were dealt with properly. He also expressed concern for those who have lived on the road for years and still do not have sewer.

Aldermen Brian Harbin and Mike Hall spoke in favor of the rezoning.

The vote was 4-2 with Vice-Mayor John Kerley, Aldermen Thomas Dillard, Jody McDowell and Drew Jennings voting no. Harbin and Hall voted yes and Megan Thompson was not present.

At the July 1 BOMA meeting, Vice-mayor John Kerley requested that the rezoning of the property be revisited. After a lengthy discussion, a vote was taken to bring up the rezoning at the August

5 meeting.

At the August 5 meeting, Trudy Crafton addressed the council again stating that the city can’t handle the growth and reminded the council that the city was still under a moratorium with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The rezoning was approved on second reading. This time Kerley, Thompson, Jennings, Harbin and Hall voted yes while Dillard and McDowell voted no.

“BOMA has approved the zoning change that will allow for the medium-priced homes that are needed in Portland,” said Kerley who changed his no vote to yes. “With the city engineer, stormwater and planning enforcing the new subdivision requirements, along with the stormwater requirements, the project can be designed so that it will reduce the amount of flooding on TGT Road along with the flooding of Cora and Heritage Streets.

“Also, the increased number of homes with the possibility of more, will help to justify the argument to TDOT to allow TGT Road to intersect with the New 109 from both East and West. TDOT would make the improvements to both sides of TGT road at the intersection with the new 109 and the developer would be required to make improvement to the frontage of his property. This should result in a long stretch of TGT road, being made safer, wider, and experience a lesser degree of flooding.”

The number of homes that will be built on the 41 acres will be determined after an engineering study.

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