Cookeville Council Passes Tabled Rezoning

Cookeville City Council members voted to move ahead with a tabled rezoning which allows propane bulk sales on Boyd Farris Road.

The proposal was originally tabled during the June 7 meeting after residents near the location were against the ordinance.

Council member Dr. Charles Womack said he recently visited the proposed zoning site to help make his decision.

“I’m all for checking out and making sure we’re not disturbing residential neighborhoods and I’ll continue to do that,” Womack said. “It’s a really pretty area, but there is commercial activity on [Highway] 111 and that needs to be protected also.”

The proposal was tabled for council members to gather more information on how changes could effect the area. The ordinance rezones the property from Commercial-Industrial Mix-Use to Light Manufacturing.

Resident Catherine Wallace said she and 25 neighbors surrounding the proposed zoning area created a petition against the ordinance.

“We will never agree that a property should be rezoned simply because its neighbor is zoned that way,” Wallace said. “And we also don’t feel it’s good management to grant someone new zoning just for the purpose of selling gas tanks, when we know that property could be sold in the future for manufacturing purposes.”

Council voted unanimously to pass the rezoning ordinance.