Letter to the Editor: GOOD NEIGHBORS
GOOD NEIGHBORS . . . Isn’t that what everyone hopes for; whether they are buying or building a home, putting in a business, growing crops on their family farm, or maybe establishing a small hobby farm.
Our county is divided into three basic zoning categories, or as they say in Hardeman County, Permitted areas of Land Uses. Does this infringe on personal property rights? Yes, but it also helps ensures individual’s and business that their neighbors will have to follow certain restrictions and won’t build or install something that will devalue their property or affect their lifestyle.
Commercial /Industrial
If you want to establish a business or industry you must be in an area where it is permitted. You will have certain setbacks, building heights, land coverage, landscaping etc. in order to be in compliance.
Urban (Cities and small towns)
People building in Cities have their own zoning restrictions on land uses and on lot size, land coverage, setbacks, building height, and other ordinances that they have to follow and do not have to live with the decisions of County zoning.
FAR (Farming Agriculture, some Residential) is one Hardeman County zoning district which contains about 375,000 acres of land. Living in rural areas you still have restrictions on lot size, road frontage requirements, placement of storage buildings and barns etc.
Last year Governor Lee and the General Assembly paused debate on Solar Farms to get insight from the TACIR committee. Last January, Hardeman County voted unanimously to put a one-year moratorium on Solar applications to give our community a chance to study how this Industry would affect the county. The TACIR report likely will not give cause for the State to place mandates to Counties to allow, nor restrict Solar. This means Hardeman County has the right to design an ordinance that works on behalf of the citizens of our own county.
Nine years ago, Hardeman County passed a Solar ordinance that removed the requirement of Solar Farms to be on Industrial land by making the industry a conditional use on Agriculture land. This is considered preferential treatment by some. There currently are very few restrictions on the Solar Industry. A Solar representative commented last January, the solar industry would be satisfied with a mere three percent of agriculture land of in our County. That equates to 12,840 acres; almost half of all the corn and soybean land in Hardeman County.
Our Planning Commission spent months coming up with a Resolution pertaining to the entire Utility Industry; not just Solar. It includes many other types of power plants like Wind, Gas Turbines, Hydroelectric and Nuclear. Some of the requirements in the new ordinance are, required setbacks, land coverage use, fencing, and a planting of trees and vegetation to provide nesting and habitat for the wildlife affected by the large areas no longer available to them. As with any other Commercial industry, these would be located on land permitted for Commercial /Industrial use.
So, if you are building a home, buying some land in the rural areas of our county, or establishing a business, wouldn’t it be advantageous; to know what your neighbors can and can’t do; know that everyone has to follow the same ordinances, and that your investments and property values won’t be adversely affected by what your neighbors put on their property?
The County Commissioners will be voting on this Resolution on Tuesday, January 16, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the county courthouse.
I think a few good rules makes for good neighbors!
Submitted by: Karen Clayton
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