Jefferson City, Tennessee, may stop issuing building permits for new developments for a while. City leaders say the town's water plant can't yet make enough water for the growth already coming. City Manager James Gallup asked the city council last month to consider a temporary moratorium. He made the same case to the Jefferson City Regional Planning Commission a week ago Monday, The Standard Banner reported.
The plant was built to make 7 million gallons a day. Public Works Director Porter Massengill told council it is producing 4.7 million gallons a day right now, according to the Standard Banner's report on the council work session.
Why the city is looking at a moratorium
"Now that we have kind of a finite number to judge against, we felt it was prudent for us to approach Council and ask for a temporary moratorium," Gallup told planning commissioners. He wants to take stock of the subdivisions already under construction and the ones coming down the pipeline.
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The pause could reach past the city limits. New Market and Shady Grove utility districts buy water from Jefferson City, and a moratorium could mean telling them that new developments in their areas can't be served.
Asked how long a pause might last, Massengill said the timeframe might have to be open-ended, with a review "every 12 months."
Where a pause would bite
Jeff Houston, who directs the city's building office, and a planning consultant with the East Tennessee Development District told planning commissioners that work can be stopped at the building permit stage. "That's the way I understand the Tennessee Code," Houston said. He also said he wants to learn more about the legal details.
City Attorney Robert Burts was asked to study the legal side and report back at the council's regular meeting on November 2, this Monday. The outcome of that meeting had not been reported when this was written.
Projects still moving
The planning commission kept approving work while the city studies the issue. Commissioners told applicants a shutdown could be coming, then voted:
- Cannon's Crossing: final plat approved for the 63-home subdivision where Old Andrew Johnson Highway meets Black Oak Road. Crews are already working on the site.
- Forgety Road: a 39-lot site plan in the city's growth boundary, approved unanimously.
- Odyssey Road: a rezoning request from highway business to multifamily for land behind the Weigel's at Highway 11E. The developers described townhome-style condos up front and 90-plus single-family homes farther back toward the railroad tracks, priced, one of the developers said, in "the upper threes to upper fours" (hundreds of thousands), depending on size.
Fixing the water plant
The supply problem goes back to last fall, when some of the plant's filter membranes failed. Massengill asked council for about $82,000 to pilot two ceramic membrane systems at the water plant, to find out which one would best raise output. Council agreed to consider the pilots at the same Monday meeting.
Sources
- Water capacity could halt building permits, The Standard Banner
- Jefferson City Council considers slowing development in wake of water production woes, The Standard Banner
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