Fri
Aug 7 2009
09:24:am
Blount County to consider allowing Campgrounds/ATV Parks in R-1 by Special Exception, that's bad!
By: mello  shortURL

Is there a campground or ATV park coming to your R-1 residential neighborhood? There could be if the County Commission allows Campgrounds and ATV Parks as Special Exceptions. What is so special about a campground or ATV Park? Why should a few men on the BZA be allowed to give approval to these commercial enterprises when the full Commission can not?

The normal procedure for rezoning involves Planning Commission approval followed by setting a public hearing in Commission, the hearing and then commission voting. From start to finish it is several months with many opportunities for residents to speak for or against a rezoning.

Not so when the BZA is involved. All it takes with the BZA is a public notice five days before the hearing! BZA notices are commonly in the paper on Friday before the hearing the following Thursday night.

It only takes a quorum of members to hold the BZA meeting and a majority to pass the vote. Quorum is three, majority vote is two. Two men deciding where an ATV Park can go instead of the full County Commission.

If you don't happen see the public notice your only other warning of rezoning will be the little sign stuck out on the property. This is a bad, bad resolution for Blount County.

Topics:

By ATV, do you mean RV?

Submitted by Andy on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 14:43.

Do any of the gents on the BZA happen to own RV Parks or campgrounds or have aspirations to do so?

And aren't R-1 districts more heavily populated primarily residential areas? As in, not farmland or otherwise open land.

Campgrounds

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 08/08/2009 - 20:07.

The proposed amendment to Blount County Zoning Regulations that will allow any five acre tract of land within the Suburban district, Rural 1 district, or the Rural 2 district of the county to be utilized for a Commercial Campground. This should be classified as a commercial use, and should be forced to go through all standard commercial rezoning procedures. I think the citizens should be informed, by the Planning Commission why campgrounds should be allowed within the R-1 district, which is the densest district of the county where homes can be built on a 30,000 sq. ft. lot.

You should also note that if the landowner owns a 200 acre tract of land and builds a 50 acre campground, It is my understanding that, if he is issued a county business license for the campground he may only have to pay commercial taxes upon the 50 acre tract, although part of the other 150 acres may be utilized to access the campground.
Let me also point out the fact that all multifamily developments are currently approved by the 5 members of the BZA Board as a Special Exception within the county, and these zoning regulations do not contain any requirements for roadway access to any unlimited multifamily development, 4 units thru unlimited units. I have previously expressed my concerns that this type of commercial use of property should be subject to the same requirements that the county subdivision regulations currently place on a 4 lot subdivision. In my opinion this type of commercial development should be approved by the 12 member Planning Commission and this commission should be require the same set of standards that apply to a subdivision. I do not believe multifamily developments or campgrounds and Rv Parks should be approved as a special exception by the BZA Board.

In closing on this subject, let me again ask the following question. “Should not ALL development that will have an impact on the county’s infrastructure be subject to the same requirements?

No Andy, I mean ATV

Submitted by mello on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 16:18.

There is no definition given to what an RV is. That allows the doors to open on an ATV park. Don't think big expensive RV's, think RV's and trucks pulling ATVs and dirt bikes. Give these guys an inch and you know the country mile they take.

And yes, R-1 is suppose to be primarily lower density residential among farm and open lands. How much higher density can you get than ten feet between RV's?

How much higher density can

Submitted by bizgrrl on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 18:29.

How much higher density can you get than ten feet between RV's?

Hah!

FUBR fustration

Submitted by mello on Tue, 08/11/2009 - 23:46.

Last November, the full Blount County Commission passed a resolution to amend the S, R-1 and R-2 Special Exceptions by adding the words and their associated sales or rental offices for the development to the existing regulation.

The Resolution that was presented and passed last November came out of the Planning Commission, had a public hearing and then a full Commission vote.

Are yee following me so far?

THAT resolution which was ONLY to add those words above was so FUBR that the language used in it which was suppose to be the current regulation with the addition of and their associated sales or rental offices for the development was not the current rules. It was as if someone made up the regulations and presented them to the full commission.

What that passing vote did in Nov of 2008 ( among other things!) was make it possible for campgrounds to be in the R-1 by special exception when prior to that vote they could not be.

The Nov 2008 resolution was presented to make only one change- the addition of and their associated sales or rental offices for the development but it did far more than that.

Over the past few months Commission with help from Planning has been trying to fix this huge mistake. In July the CC voted to 'amend' the zoning regulations to adjust the November 2008 mistake.

The normal way to 'amend or change' the zoning regulations is for the Planning Commission to recommend the change to the County Commission. The CC then sets a public hearing, has the public hearing, then votes on the change.

I can not find that there was any kind of public hearing to 'amend' the zoning regulations as passed in July '09 that fixed that Nov 2008 mistake.

So is the mistake fixed?

FUBR indeed.

resolution

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 08/12/2009 - 13:40.

Minutes of November 20, 2008 County Commission
(link...)

A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE ZONING RESOLUTION OF BLOUNT COUNTY,
TENNESSEE, SECTION 9.1B, 9.2B AND 9.3B TO ADD SALES AND RENTAL
OFFICES IN ASSOCIATION WITH MULTIFAMILY DEVELOPMENTS.
RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE ZONING REGULATIONS OF BLOUNT COUNTY, TO SECTION
9.1B, 9.2B, AND 9.3B.
Commissioner Helton made a motion to approve the resolution. Commissioner Proffitt seconded
the motion.
A voice vote was taken on the motion with Chairman Samples declaring the motion to have
passed.

From the information that I have found on the county web site the wording that was posted in the resolution for all 3 districts were the same. These are the changes that they approved that was posted in the resolution for their meeting of November 20th 2008.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF
BLOUNT COUNTY, TENNESSEE, to adopt the following:
That Section 9.1 B, 9.2 B and 9.3B be amended to read as follows:
9.1B, 9.2 & 9.3 Uses Permitted as Special Exceptions: multifamily dwellings including three or more
of any dwelling units per lot, and their associated sales or rental offices for the development
(see also Section 7.6), family commercial enterprises (see Section 7.10), nursing homes, retirement homes, sanitariums, assisted care living facilities, and resident facilities with special services, treatment, or supervision; commercial campgrounds, vacation cabin rental (see also section 7.11), tourist accommodations, bed and breakfast accommodations, tourist oriented recreation facilities; day care facilities; commercial cemeteries not associated with a church or other place of worship; government and utility uses of a regional character necessary for providing service to the land and population within a broader region including the district; sawmills and associated lumber yards; and accessory structures customarily associated with the above uses.

Note: It therefore appears the commission approved all 3 districts of the county to utilize the same permitted uses listed as a special exception within the R-2 District as a standard for every one of them, with the added wording of commercial campgrounds and vacation cabin rentals.

In so doing they have removed the use of “High Density Multifamily Planned Development” & “Golf Driving Ranges’ from Section 9.1 for the Suburbanizing District. They also now have now added to the special exception uses of commercial campgrounds, vacation cabin rental, tourist accommodations, bed and breakfast accommodations, tourist oriented recreation facilities; sawmills and associated lumber yards; and accessory structures customarily associated with the above uses.

They have also removed the special exception uses of” Government and utility uses”, Golf Driving Ranges; from Section 9.2 for the Rural District- 1, and added special exception uses of; commercial campgrounds, and sawmills and associated lumber yards; and accessory structures customarily associated with the above uses.

amazing!

Submitted by mello on Thu, 08/13/2009 - 08:44.

IT is a huge "clerical' error that would get a person fired in the private sector.

I am still not finding a public hearing for the July 2009 change back to the pre-Nov error.

THAT error will be corrected at the public hearing on the newly compiled/updated Blount County Zoning Handbook which contains the July changes. You know the handbook I am talking about- on the County website there is the 'zoning laws' updated to 2006. It desperately needs updating because the Commission as passed about 14 changes to it since late 2006.

How is anyone suppose to know what the real rules are in Blount County? Will Blount be the first county that needs a Zoning Law audit?

"If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say this or that even, it never happened—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death."
- George Orwell, 1984

two plus years later and the same proposal is back

Submitted by mello on Mon, 11/07/2011 - 19:52.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING In accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated Section 13-7-105, the Board of County Commissioners of Blount County, Tennessee, will convene hold public
hearing on November 8, 2011 at 6:30 P.M., at the Blount County Courthouse Commission Meeting Room for the following proposed amendment to the Zoning Resolution of Blount
County, Tennessee, being Resolution 00-06-010.

A RESOLUTION TO AMEND THE ZONING RESOLUTION OF BLOUNT COUNTY,
TENNESSEE, BY ADDING DEFINITIONS OF CAMPING CABINS AND CAMPGROUNDS OR COMMERCIAL CAMPGROUND AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKS, BY AMENDING SECTIONS 9.1B, 9.2B and 9.3B TO INCLUDE THE USES OF COMMERCIAL CAMPGROUND AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKS AS SPECIAL EXCEPTIONS IN THE S, R-1 AND R-2 ZONE DISTRICTS, AND BY ADDING A NEW SECTION 7.18 DESIGN STANDARDS FOR
COMMERCIAL CAMPGROUND AND RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARKS

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