News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Monterey Board of Aldermen tabled discussion to rezone property on East Wilder Avenue from residential to commercial.
The Board decided at its meeting Monday night that they wanted to give the public time for its input. Mayor Nathan Walker said the ordinance is to zone the land from a residential to a commercial classification.
“The folks that bought that property they are looking to build a, well they’ve actually already built it, a motorcycle repair shop/gift shop with future plans for potential cabins that they would be renting,” Walker said.
Walker said Monterey always tries to help foster small businesses within the area. He said the issue with this case specifically is a lack of commercial property that is adjoining that property.
“The state of Tennessee, just like most states are, has been historically against what they call spot-zoning and that means taking one person’s piece of property that is adjoining all residential property and then rezoning that,” Walker said. “So a residential piece of property to be changed over to commercial where they could build a business basically inside your neighborhood.”
Walker said many build their homes in residential areas to avoid the high traffic and noise rates that follow most businesses. He said it is important to allow the neighbors in that area to voice their opinions on the subject before reaching a decision.
“We have to be careful that we’re doing not only what we can to promote the small business but also to protect those property owners that adjoin that property,” Walker said. “So we want to make sure that we are covering all bases.”
Walker said the current ordinance only covers the very front of the property, with approximately eight acres total. He said the Board was operating under the assumption that rezoning the entire property would be more advantageous to the owner in the future.
“During that discussion, what came up is that we really need to take some things back to the planning commission and see what some other options are that maybe weren’t discussed in the first meeting to see if there are any other avenues we can explore,” Walker said.
Walker said the next planning commission meeting will be held later this month. He said they will contact the adjoining property owners to give them an opportunity to voice their opinions on this project.
“That would be more of an official public hearing, once the ordinance would be adopted upon first reading and approved, then we would have public hearings in front of the Board of Aldermen after that where they could also have their voices heard,” Walker said.
Walker cited his agreement with Alderman Garcia that you must always begin commercial property development somewhere rather than nowhere. He said his goal as Mayor is to always consider the current and future needs of Monterey first.
“We are a small town situated between two micropolitan economies at the current moment,” Walker said. “We’re never going to have a Wal-Mart, we’re not big enough for those kinds of large business developments so we rely on small businesses.”
Walker said motivating young business owners is critical moving forward as Monterey’s economy continues to grow as well as the population. He said Monterey will likely be the suburb for other micropolitan areas.
“Here in the very near future, we are going to see more folks want to come in this direction because Monterey is a wonderful place to raise a family,” Walker said.
Walker said being prepared to support Monterey’s infrastructure is very important to the town’s future success.
