Planners see urban growth blueprint

Shelbyville Municipal Planning Commission got its first look at a preliminary version of the city's urban growth plan Thursday night.

Charles Goforth of the design firm Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon (BWSC) briefed the commission on how the city should plan for its growth over the next 20 years.

The master plan is intended to be an update to the original plan drafted by the county and its municipalities to comply with Public Chapter 1101, which requires cities and counties to formulate a 20-year plan indicating how they are prepared to grow and develop as time progresses, and to identify means of providing public utilities to those growth areas.

Planned growth areas have already been proposed to the county by BWSC, Goforth said. An additional area north of Shelbyville is being proposed by BWSC for Shelbyville's expansion of its urban growth boundary.

"In the next 20 years, half of the growth that is projected for the county will be in Shelbyville, according to the state of Tennessee," Goforth explained. "The path of growth is in that particular area," he said, indicating the region near the new Heritage Medical Center and Shelbyville Municipal Airport.

Talks with the Chamber of Commerce revealed a need for additional industrial property, he said. Big improvement will be coming with the addition of the Shelbyville bypass. He urged the city to start planning on what is going to happen along this new route.

"You don't want to go along and strip commercial all along the bypass and move all your businesses out there," Goforth said. "And then in turn close the businesses you already have." Instead he suggested zoning the areas around intersections as commercial.

Extending industrial zones to the yet-to-be constructed bypass is also a concept Goforth presented; the zones would be buffered by "office type uses."

"That way, you would have a transitional zone before you came back to the residential areas," he said. Goforth did not suggest any changes to the interior of the city in the plans.

The first draft that is to be provided to commissioners lays out strengths and weaknesses and even a category titled threats, as well as general and residential goals for the community.

The commission also voted to hold a check from the builders of the new Heritage Medical Center in escrow until Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) approves a traffic light for the intersection leading to the new hospital.

The check for $97,780 would be deposited and would accrue interest until TDOT approved the light on U.S. 231 North. Another option was for the owners of the hospital to provide a line of credit and a contractual agreement to build the light when it was approved.

In other business, the commission approved a rezoning request from Bobby Sanders for a 0.134 acre parcel on Davis Lane from I-1 (light industrial) to C-2 (highway service district).

Another rezoning request was granted to Rod Parsons for 635 North Main St. for a nine-unit professional services office complex adjoining Delray Street and North Main. The property was requested to be rezoned from C-2 (highway service district) to PCD (planned commercial development).

Site plan approval was granted to Olan Vandiver for a 2,400 square foot commercial building for furniture sales and repair at 807 Lipscomb St.

Another site plan that was requested by Dr. Alma Tamula was approved for a 3,500 square foot medical office building at the northeast intersection of West Cedar Street and Sevier Street on 0.6 acres. (Square foot figure corrected on 4/3/08)

Also given approval was an amendment for the Union Station design, dealing with layout changes for "Section K" and the front commercial entryway out parcels.