Lenoir City moves to temporarily

Lenoir City has taken a step toward curbing the amount of new apartments being built in the area.

During a meeting on June 10, Lenoir City Council unanimously passed the first reading of an ordinance to establish a moratorium prohibiting the building of apartments/ multi-family housing within the city’s corporate limits for one year. The second and final reading and vote is expected to take place at the next Council meeting on June 24 at 6 p.m.

City Planner Beth Collins addressed the Council before the first vote. She mentioned that the moratorium may be extended for an additional six months and that the ordinance is for multi-family rather than single-family homes and that the change wouldn’t affect anything that has been previously approved by the Lenoir City Regional Planning Commission.

“(The) Planning Commission, as you know, has heard lots of requests, we’ve had a lot of growth — and we’d like to take time to pause and reflect on what we have now,” Collins told the Council. “Is it working for us? Do we need to amend that? (The ordinance) did go through Planning Commission last week, unanimously.”

“We’ve experienced so much growth in our community and … we just need to stop, pump our breaks a little bit and kind of get caught up,” Henline said. “I think it’s a great thing to do.”

The ordinance states that the Planning Commission intends to review certain requirements for building apartments in the city. That review process would begin immediately and, once complete, the Commission would forward its recommendation to the mayor and City Council for its legislative review and passage.

The ordinance wouldn’t apply to any site already approved for site plan, rezoning or annexation … or to sites granted a permit for construction prior to its passage. Lenoir City Housing Authority would be exempt from the ordinance.

The move comes amid concerns voiced by locals about traffic, overcrowding and the loss of the city’s “small town” feel. On May 6, Lenoir City officials approved the site plan for a 276-apartment development to be built on Market Drive and Town Creek Parkway.

According to the ordinance, the moratorium will protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of Lenoir City. The first reading passed unanimously with Councilman Eddie Simpson absent.

THE FUTURE OF THE CITY

Coucilman Todd Kennedy believes the moratorium is a step in the right direction. But if it were up to him, it would have gone a little further.

The proposed moratorium is specifically for apartments, meaning other high-density development, such as subdivisions for homes, could still be approved.

“In my opinion, I wish we would have pushed a pause on everything R-3,” said Kennedy, referring to the High Density Residential District in the city’s zoning ordinance.

Before Kennedy was elected to office in November 2022, he ran on a platform supporting a temporary moratorium on high-density development until the city’s zoning regulations could be evaluated and addressed.

He has made it clear he wouldn’t vote yes on anything zoned for R-3 until such a study is done.

Currently, when the Planning Commission approves a site plan — it doesn’t then have to be approved by City Council. The zoning ordinance was last updated in 1978.

“So as long as the developer is abiding by the current zoning regulations, City Council never hears about it,” Kennedy said. “And that’s kind of why I was asking for things to be paused, so that we could take a look at the zoning regulations … because what is allowed is, in my opinion, could be detrimental to the future of the city.

“Because there’s no way to stop them if the zoning ordinance is written in a way that may not be advantageous to us now.”