News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Putnam County Planning Commission approved a new road standard as part of newly proposed subdivision regulations.
Putnam County Planning Director Kevin Rush said the new road standard is an addition the current subdivision regulations. It requires new roads that are built in developing subdivisions to have a one and a half inch thick surfacing material added to the roads. Rush said other counties and Cookeville made a similar change several years ago.
“By adding this additional surfacing layer, it will reduce the maintenance cost to the county long term,” Rush said. “The roads will be much stronger and not wear as fast, so the county will not be required to maintain them as frequently.”
Rush said the new road standards are now in effect.
Rush said another regulation the planning commission is considering was adding a requirement for developers to plan for mail delivery. Rush said the proposal was tabled to April’s meeting after conversations with local developers and surveyors.
“They wanted the surveyors and developers to reach out to the post offices to make sure that the process was going to be feasible,” Rush said.
Rush said the proposal would require developers to reach out to the postal service to determine the best method of mail delivery. Rush said the change is necessary as there have been issues with subdivisions receiving mail in the past.
“From what the planning commission was originally told going back in 2017 or 2018 when the post office started requiring cluster box units,” Rush said. “It seems like they have altered their interpretation of their requirements, so we just want ot make sure everything is known going forward by developers.”
