Cookeville Planning Commission Votes To Further Study Campgrounds/RV Parks

The Cookeville Planning Department will once again further study the addition of campgrounds and RV parks under local commercial districts.

Community Development Director Jon Ward presented preliminary guidelines to the Planning Commission Monday. Ward said the proposed amendments would remove the developments from general commercial.

“This is a pretty complex issue,” Ward said. “We want to make sure we do this correct. I feel like there is opportunity to provide this minimal impacts. We are just not prepared to move forward.”

Member Ali Bagci said he agreed that developments should be eliminated from major roadways and general commercial zones. Under the proposal, campgrounds or RV parks would not be allowed next to single-family residential districts.

The city’s zoning codes today only allow campgrounds under general commercial. General commercial usually holds moderate to large size offices and retail businesses. Local commercial is meant for smaller offices and businesses.

While the majority of conversation up to this point pertained to accommodating tourists, Member Jim Cobb questioned what the amendment would mean for mobile home parks. Cobb said he would like to further study the impacts to those developments before moving forward.