I-3 Zone approved by City Council

Shelbyville's city council voted Thursday to re-enact the creation of a Special Impact Industrial District geared for specific facilities.

A public hearing and final reading was held Thursday night for an ordinance that establishes an I-3, or Industrial Zone, in Shelbyville -- which has been at the center of a five-year lawsuit over a rock quarry.

However, no one spoke during the public hearing. Councilman Lee Roy Cunningham voted no on the measure.

The ordinance clarifies which type of facilities that will be permitted as special exceptions inside an I-3 district, which the city previously adopted by ordinance in 2004.

That 2004 ordinance deleted certain uses, including stone quarrying and crushing, from the city's I-2 zones.

But that measure was the center of a lawsuit filed by Norma and Tommy Wright, Wright Paving Co. Inc. and Custom Stone LLC, who claimed the city did not give adequate notice of the change in zoning laws they claimed impacted their property.

The Wrights had sued the city, the city council and planning commission over a proposed rock quarry on L. Fisher Road, which was turned down for approval in January 2005.

Summary judgment was granted in December 2008 in favor of Shelbyville, however, a decision filed by the Tennessee Court of Appeals in November ruled that the city's published notice in regards to the 2004 zoning change "failed to provide reasonable notice to landowners that their property may be affected" and found the notice to be insufficient.

As a result, the ordinance the council passed in 2004 was declared invalid.

The new ordinance includes a list of facilities which are to be permitted as conditional uses, or special exceptions, in the I-3 district, such as correction institutions, junk yards and quarrying activities.

Power board

A resolution to ask State Rep. Pat Marsh and State Sen. Jim Tracy to request that the state legislature adopt a private act to amend the city's charter to allow term limits on appointment to the Shelbyville Power Board, was withdrawn from the council agenda and will be discussed at next month's study session.

Councilman Al Stephenson raised the matter at last week's study session, stating that the slots have become strictly political.

He stated that members should serve a couple of three-year terms and then sit out one term before applying to serve on the board again.

Shelbyville's city charter also states that a power board member can not be a member of another board.

Other action

Also approved Thursday night were:

* A motion to approve an amendment to Pepsi's contract for the city's park and recreation department, which includes two scoreboards for Central Memorial Gym.

* Authorization to spend $10,721.82 to replace a failed compressor pump for the fire department that is used to fill air bottles.

* A lease agreement was approved for radio tower site use between Shelbyville Power, Water and Sewer System and the police department for new radio equipment.

* Mayor Wallace Cartwright delayed appointments to the planning commission until next month due to the fact that the city's new codes and planning director, W. Edward Dodson, will not be starting his job until next Thursday.

* A contract totaling $13,000 for airport maintenance was approved. That money will be reimbursed by the state.

* The council approved applying for a railroad grant for a spur to the former Qunitec building.

* Authorization was granted to buy a compressor for the central heat and air unit at the airport, at a cost of $2,400.

* Police Chief Austin Swing informed the T-G that his department's most recent police academy graduates, Mitchell Warren and John Cooke, both finished in the top 10 of the entire class, with Cooke placing first.