Twenty people addressed the council on the matter. The man wanting to build the quarry and several of his affiliates spoke in support of the quarry. There were also several who spoke against and a couple who really didn't make their position known. Speakers were not required to state if they lived in the city or not.

The crux of all the commenter's was, it's either going to be a quarry of a residential development, I prefer the quarry or I prefer housing, was how nearly every speaker framed their position. That's just wrong. The property doesn't have to be either one. I want to try again to explain this.

The property is currently zoned M-1 Industrial. Under Greenback zoning regulations, neither a quarry nor a housing development or any residential building is allowed in the M-1 Industrial zone. The only way the property could be a quarry or a housing development is if the Greenback city council rezones the property. As M-1 Industrial zone, there are regulations of what type of industry can locate on the property.

Here's how the process would have to go.

1. The property owner or designee would have to request a change in zoning from M-1 Industrial to A-1, to the Loudon County Planning Commission.
2. The Loudon County Planning Commission, based on whatever criteria they have, would either recommend approval or denial of the rezone.
3. Then it would be up to the council to make the final decision. They DO NOT have to take the recommendation from the the Loudon County Planning Commission whether it's approval or denial. The planning commission is simply a recommending body only.
4. The Greenback city council would then have to decide if they want to rezone the property that would allow a quarry or housing. They DO NOT have to rezone the property. If not rezoned, the property remains M-1, prohibiting a quarry or housing.
5. If the council decides to rezone the property to A-1, which would permit a quarry, the property owner or designee would then have to make application to the Loudon County Board Of Zoning Of Appeals, BZA, for a special exception to operate a quarry. The BZA could approve or deny the special exception to operate a quarry on the property. If denied, no quarry would be allowed but under A-1 zoning, housing of one house per acre would be permitted.

The Greenback city council is the big player in this process. If they do decide to rezone, that would indicate they are in favor of the quarry and could even include that language in their vote. If the council knowingly votes to rezone for a quarry, the Loudon County BZA could likely take that into consideration in their decision to grant a special exception for a quarry, but they don't have to.

The Greenback city council is made up of four aldermen and the mayor, all five have a vote. This means that a majority of three votes would be needed to rezone.

Mayor Burchfield said at the meeting last week, he was there to represent the people of Greenback and that's what he's going to do. There's an old saying in politics, "Some of my friends are for it, some of my friends are against it, I'm going with my friends." This is kind of where the mayor and council are.

These are tough calls but will impact Greenback for years to come, any way they go.