CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Bradley County Commission agreed Monday to pay half the cost for a follow-up to a December report that looked at growth to 2035.
The Cleveland City Council already had approved its half, $62,500.
But one commissioner is against the study, calling it a "power grab disguised as a study" by the city that's designed to take away property rights.
The other commissioners reassured the public that, before any rezoning or regulations mentioned in the study are put into place, the buck stops with them.
Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland said Tuesday that the study makes no final decisions on what local government can do.
"Just as the 2035 study gives us a lot of information on what to expect from projected growth, the new study will be more specific in details to better inform both the city and the county," he said.
The December "strategic" report, following a year of study by a contracted consultant, outlined future growth in broad terms and highlighted some areas - north of Cleveland, the downtown core and McDonald, Tenn., to exit 20 on Interstate 75.
The second "comprehensive'' study would fine-tune the conclusions and report on any future need for rezoning or subdivision regulation changes.
But Commissioner Mel Griffith is suspicious.
"I'm all in favor of planning," he said. "That's not what this is all about. It's a power grab disguised as a plan. It tells you so in the resolution and page after page in the comprehensive plan. I quote what it says. 'It will be necessary to make appropriate revisions in some subdivision regulations.' In other words, take away more of our private property rights."
The goal is to disrupt the "natural growth" in the county so that the city can collect more property taxes, he said.
Other commissioners pointed out that, before any regulations are changed, there must be public hearings and a vote by the commission.
"That can be done by this commission and the City Council at its leisure, anyway. We don't have to have a comprehensive plan to make revisions to those things," said Commissioner J. Adam Lowe.
"The buck still stops here," said Commissioner Jeff Yarber.
Commissioner Ed Elkins said constituent calls to him were not about the county's half of the money, but whether there is a commitment to follow up on what they pay for.