Urban Growth Boundary gains city approval

Shelbyville's city council gave its OK to the city's new expanded Urban Growth Boundary during its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday.

The new boundary is part of the comprehensive study and plan developed by Barge Waggoner Sumner and Cannon (BWSC), which was recommended to the council by the city's planning commission and calls for the city's UGB to be expanded northward.

The vote was only a recommendation to expand the UGB, city manager Ed Craig said.

Charles Goforth of BWSC said last year that in the next 20 years, half of the growth that is projected for Bedford County will be in Shelbyville, mostly in the region near the new Heritage Medical Center and Shelbyville Municipal Airport.

Planned growth areas, similar to UGBs but not adjoining an existing city or town, have already been proposed to the county by BWSC as well.

The only change made to the Shelbyville map was due to a request by Bell Buckle to have a small section of Webb Road north of the Shelbyville airport and connected to Highway 231 North excluded because officials didn't want to see the area leading to their town to have commercial growth.

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.

Also approved was a resolution to have the city's planning commission become a regional planning commission. This would mean that areas within Shelbyville's Urban Growth Boundary would be subject to the city's subdivision regulations.

The county would still have zoning authority, but zoning requests would go through the city planning commission.

Another matter approved involves beginning the procedure to recover costs for the demolition of property on East Depot Street totaling $225,215.

City attorney Ginger Shofner told the council last week that if they would vote to pursue collection for the funds, they can either make it a lien on the property, or a personal debt against Alice Albrecht, the owner of 109 E. Depot.

Shofner also mentioned that Albrecht's attorney was waiting for the figures and had requested them.

The building at 113 E. Depot was damaged last year during the demolition of Albrecht's property, which was considered a dangerous structure.

Contractors and engineers said at the time it would cost over $200,000 to repair it and bring up to code, so the council voted to tear it down as well.

A number of items addressed by the council were:

• Passed on third and final reading was a rezoning request from Anna Clanton to change 1813 Madison St. from R-1 (low density residential) to C-2.
• Another rezoning request approved on third and final reading was for property owned by Ginger Mashe at 810 Belmont Ave. to be changed from R-1 to C-2.
• An ordinance to adopt a budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year and to set a tax rate was passed on second reading, however no budget numbers have been presented to the council yet.
• Also passed on second reading was an ordinance to approve final amendments to the 2008-09 budget.
• Another ordinance passed on second reading amends a section of the city code to comply with state law regarding removal or demolition of property.
• On first reading, an annexation request by Grady Cunningham for 2506 Highway 231 North failed. Cunningham had tried unsuccessfully on three different occasions to ask the county to rezone the property as commercial.

  Craig explained to the council that the city would not be able to provide fire and other services to the property.

• Another item passed on first reading adopts the 2009 International Building Codes, but it excludes sections of the code referring to the requirement of sprinkler systems in single family dwellings and duplexes.
• Also passed on first reading was an ordinance amending the city code pertaining to street cutting requirement procedures, with concrete to be used for road patching instead of asphalt.
• A motion to authorize the fire department to apply for a $30,000 grant to buy air packs was approved.Shelbyville's portion of the grant would be five percent.
• The council approved locating a storage building behind Fire Hall #2 on Hillcrest Drive to store a hazardous materials response vehicle and equipment belonging to the county's Emergency Management Agency.
• Approval was given to write off $64 of personal property tax owed to the city from 1996.
• Dynamark Security Inc., of Blountville, was awarded the bid of $35,667 for a video surveillance system for the Shelbyville Airport.
• Various bids were also accepted for police equipment such as flashlights, rifle racks and light and siren packages.
• Johnny Donegan was reappointed to the Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer Board with seven votes while Herby Powell was appointed with five votes.