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In a busy meeting Tuesday afternoon, the Morristown City Council passed six items including rezoning and fencing on final reading.

An ordinance allowing a Mixed-Use district was passed on second and final reading. It was passed on first reading on Dec. 17, but when it was originally set to be brought forth on second reading in January, the ordinance was pulled for further study. It amends Title 14 of the Zoning and Land Use Control Chapter 25. Morristown Municipal Code to allow for Mixed-Use districts.

Morristown Development Director Steve Nielson said that this was part of the planning department’s efforts to update zoning codes.

“We’re amending the list of uses permitted,” Nielsen said. “It includes a two-year sunset date for Master Plans, which listed uses such as ‘candy store, book store, ice cream shop, etc.’ We want to replace those with ‘General Retail Service’ and office uses where it is called ‘Doctor’s offices, pharmacies, etc.’ and replace that with ‘General Professional and Governmental Offices,’ which makes all of the districts consistent.”

Buffer districts would also be changed to reflect 25-foot buffer zones between properties. Open space requirements will be increased from 10% to 20%.

The mixed-use district changes passed 7-0 with Mayor Gary Chesney, Vice Mayor Tommy Pedigo, and Councilmembers Al A’Hearn, Chris Bivens, Bob Garrett, Joseph Senter and Kay Senter voting affirmatively.

A rezoning request at 6168 West Andrew Johnson Highway from R-1 residential to IB Intermediate Business was also passed on a 7-0 vote. The 3.8-acre property is the home to Tri-County Marine and is located northwest of the University of Tennessee Surgical Center. The split property has 4.7 acres which front West AJ Highway zoned IB, while 2.1 acres are zoned R-1.

Planning staff said that the owner of Tri-County Marine has requested that 1.5 acres be rezoned to IB to expand his business. With approval, the owner will have a half-acre of buffer zone between the business and single-family residences. Before expansion, a site plan must be provided that meets all applicable requirements, including buffering to adjacent residential properties to the east and west.

Next, a rezoning request at 355 Kidwell Ridge Road from R-1 to IB was also passed on a 7-0 vote. This would rezone Lots 22 and 23 of the property of Mrs. Rinda J. Stubblefield. The property includes a 950-square-foot single-family house which the applicant wants to convert into an office building. If the ordinance passes, a site plan must be provided that meets all applicable requirements, including buffering to adjacent residential properties to the north.

A third rezoning request at Liddington Lane and North Bellwood Road in Hampton West Subdivision. from IB to R-1 was also passed. Fernando Hererra, owner of the two lots, one on North Bellwood and the other on Liddington Lane, is wanting to revise his lot lines to make the North Bellwood lot bigger.

A final rezoning request of 4.5 acres of Faith Village subdivision from R-2 to RD-1 Small Lot Single-Family Residential was requested by Lakeway Habitat for Humanity and passed.

“Faith Village has been an ongoing project since 2005,” Nielson said. “The rezoning to small-lot subdivision will allow them to go from 7,500-square-feet to 5,500-square-feet. The area is a mixed-use with duplexes, full-family units and apartments to the south. We feel that single-family (zoning) is appropriate in this area.”

An ordinance allowing an amendment for street visibility and fencing was also passed. Nielson said that this ordinance came out of a recent neighborhood workshop in Oak Hills.

“These residents expressed concerns about several areas where there are fences in the front yards that created (problems) with fence heights and visibility (issues),” he said. “

The current Morristown Municipal Code 14.211 on street visibility and fencing states that no fence, wall, shrubbery, sign or other obstruction to vision above four feet in height is allowed within 25-feet of the intersection of two streets in all districts, except for central business. In residential districts, the maximum allowable height for a fence in a front yard is four feet to be measured from grade. The front yard shall apply to that entire area as measured from the front plane from the residence to the street.

If the fence is constructed with an ornamental material, such as wrought iron or aluminum with or without masonry or wood piers, a six-foot high fence is allowed provided the fence is at least 50% open, the code said. Six-foot fences to be located off public rights-of-way at the sides or rears of residential properties are allowed for privacy, Nielson said.

Vice Mayor Tommy Pedigo asked if people who already have fencing would be grandfathered in to which Nielson said yes.

“Zoning codes don’t fix problems, immediately,” Nielson said. “Over time, it will change.”

Councilwoman Kay Senter said that this is evidence that the council listens to what is discussed at citizen meetings. She complimented the department heads who took the information gathered and are addressing the issues of concern immediately.

In bids, a bid for a traffic light design for the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Parkway at Thomas R. James Drive/Lincoln Avenue was approved for $36,000.

“With the additional traffic and new traffic patterns on MLK, Jr. Parkway, we see the need for certain changes,” City Administrator Andrew Ellard said. “This work order authorization is for design of a signalized intersection.”

Ellard said that additional proposed changes will include the eventual closure of Jarnigan Avenue at MLK Parkway.

“With that traffic pattern change, and the new signal, it will necessary to consider the function at the intersection of Lincoln and Jarnigan,” Ellard said.

Kay Senter praised the changes as a “great improvement.”

Ellard received a new employment contract from the council, moving him from “rookie” status to the “big time,” as quipped by Chesney.

Community Development Block Grant FY 2024 Façade Grant awards for four local businesses were approved by the council. Allegra Image 360 at 1100 East Main Street requested the maximum $10,000 grant for window and door upgrades. Posh Medical Spa, 203 West Main Street, also requested $10,000 to replace front and back doors. East Tennessee Diamond requested $1,635 for replacement of a rear door facing the rear parking area and Pink Pig Pottery at 143 West Main Street, requested $1,815.54 to replace an upstairs office door at the Skymart level.

The council also approved an application for the SFY 2025 State Fire Marshal’s Rescue Squad Grant. A sponsorship agreement between the City and Dick’s Sporting Goods was also approved. Dick’s offers a Parks and Recreation discount to MPR players for purchase of sporting goods.

Jake Stokely was appointed by Chesney to replace Sabrina Seaman, whose term ends March 1, 2026. Seaman recently took a job at the City Planning Department. Nicole Raimondi was appointed by the council for appointment to the Morristown-Hamblen Humane Society board to fill the unexpired term of Steve Thayer.

Ellard announced that the Morristown Civil Service Board is now complete at three members as Jim Wills and Mike Simmerly selected E.C. Reed as the third board member. There were 70 teenagers who attended Saturday’s Teen Night at Talley Ward Recreation Center.