Rocky Top council defers ordinance to accommodate tiny homes
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Employees of the city of Rocky Top load their plates during last Friday’s Thanksgiving luncheon for city workers held in the council chamber at City Hall. Looking on at left are Mayor Kerry Templin and his wife, Carolyn. Her fresh strawberry dessert was one of the biggest hits of the event. - G. Chambers Williams III
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Rocky Top Chief of Police John Thomas shows off the new badge design adopted recently by the city’s Police Department as part of its “rebranding” program. - G. Chambers Williams III
After passing them on first reading in October, the Rocky Top City Council last week delayed final approval of two proposed ordinance regulating “tiny homes” in the city.
As the ordinances were written, tiny homes would get an official definition in Rocky Top zoning code, and would be allowed in R-1 and R-2 residential zones.
But when the ordinances came up on the council’s November meeting agenda last Thursday evening, Councilman Jeff Gilliam, reporting on action from a recent Rocky Top Planning Commission meeting, said: “These ordinances need to be sent back to the Planning Commission.
“We have been given better information,” he said, and recommended that the Planning Commission be given the opportunity to rework the ordinances.
He did not give any details about why the measures needed to be revised.
On Oct. 17, by a unanimous vote, proposed Ordinance 595 was passed to define a tiny home as “A preassembled, permanent residential dwelling, which is less than 400 square feet in area, excluding lofts.”
Additionally, the proposed ordinance stated that “A tiny home shall be built off site on a chassis and/or installed on a permanent foundation,” and “shall be inspected through the {State Fire Marshal’s Office] Modular Building Program regardless of where constructed or delivered in Tennessee.”
The ordinance also specified that “Tiny homes may be located within the R-1 and R-2 Residential Zone[s] upon approval by the Board of Zoning Appeals as a Special Exception and shall have a permanently affixed Tennessee Modular Building Label to reflect compliance with adopted statewide building and electrical codes.”
At the same time, proposed Ordinance 596 was approved on first reading to permit tiny homes as a “special exception” in the R-1 and R-2 residential zone.
Both measures still must be approved on second and final readings, but the council voted 3-0 last week, with two members absent, to table both ordinances for now.
The tiny homes ordinances resulted from a request by Clinton real estate developer Jason Deel, who has been investing in Rocky Top residential and business properties. He operates the Coal Creek General Store and three short-term residential rental properties in the downtown area, and has told the city he intends to build some tiny homes.
Also during Thursday’s meeting:
n The council passed 3-0 on first reading proposed Ordinance 597, which would amend the current city ordinance regarding the operation of the city court, which hears cases involving violations of city regulations and minor traffic offenses. No details were given about exactly what was being changed.
n Council members approved a request by Chief of Police John Thomas to allow the city’s police officers to keep badges that have just been taken out of service because new badges have been issued.
Thomas said the new badges are of a design that fits with the “rebranding” of the Police Department that is underway.
n City Manager Mike Ellis reported that the city’s sewer-system upgrade project is now 45% complete.
n The council approved an additional allocation of $478,500 to the sewer rehab project from federal American Rescue Act grant funds.
n The council approved unanimously a resolution opposing the hunting and fishing license rate increases and rate hikes for use of state-owned off-road vehicle trails proposed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
“The increases they’re wanting are tremendous,” Mayor Kerry Templin said, adding that he believes they would be detrimental to Rocky Top’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on off-road vehicle operators visiting the city.
