Kimball Mayor David JacksonWHAT’S NEXTThe growth plan map is expected to be finalized at the next planning commission meeting, set for Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. CST in Kimball City Hall.
KIMBALL, Tenn. – City administrators said the expansion of the city’s urban growth boundary must wait until they have a few other details in order.
Last month, the Kimball Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to create a municipal-regional planning commission. Now they need a confirmed growth area map before the city can expand its planning influence in the area.
Kimball Attorney Billy Gouger said the growth boundary and the creation of the expanded planning commission are two things that “really need to be tied together.”
“We’re waiting on the map to be finalized,” he said. “That’s the next step.”
As soon as the growth boundary map is finalized by the current planning commission, Gouger said, the board can approve it, and the process can move forward.
Mayor David Jackson said the city is wary that development on top of the mountain overlooking Kimball could cause flooding problems in the future.
“We want to have some say-so about the development out there and make sure we can protect the citizens down in the valley,” he said.
Jackson said Kimball is not interested in annexing the property on the mountain, but the city wants to have “some authority over the development of it.”
“[The developer] will have to bring all the site plans to us instead of the county,” he said.
The Marion County Planning Commission “does a good job, but we know a little bit more about how that water comes off that mountain,” he said. “We’ll make sure we protect our citizens.”
Officials said the growth area determined by the map does not have to be as large as its planning region.
“The planning region, however, cannot be larger than the growth area,” Gouger said.
Ryan Lewis is based in Marion County. Contact him at ryanlewis34@gmail.com.