Gateway case lands before new Metro Council

Six new members will attend first Metro Council meeting Monday, with the development case among the issues awaiting

5:56 p.m. Sept. 16, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

A Gateway question that has spent much of the summer moving through Planning and Zoning, court filings, and a closed legal briefing will land in front of a reshaped Metro Council on Monday night.

Gateway Development Corporation does not appear on the published agenda for the Sept. 21 meeting. It is, however, included in the Council packet as an agenda item, and the question is direct: Should Moore County continue defending the court action brought by Gateway, or consent to the relief the developer is seeking – preliminary site-plan approval for its proposed townhome development along Main Street?

Any decision would come from a considerably different Council than the one that watched the dispute move into Chancery Court this summer. Monday will be the first regular meeting for six newly elected members.

• September 2026 Agenda

Six new members take their seats

Payton Keller in District 2; Jayson Estfon and John Oosting in District 3; and Regina Adcock, Brady Goodwin, and Brandon Ross in District 5 were elected Aug. 6 and took office Sept. 1. Keller replaced John Taylor. Estfon and Oosting joined returning District 3 Councilman Dexter Golden after Marty Cashion did not seek another term and Houston Lindsey lost his reelection bid. District 5 turned over completely after Gerald Burnett, Greg Guinn, and Jimmy Hammond chose not to run again.

The six were sworn in Aug. 31 and joined the outgoing Council that afternoon for a private attorney-client consultation concerning Gateway’s litigation. Their terms did not begin until the following day, but County Attorney Bill Rieder recommended including the incoming members so they could receive the same legal briefing before taking office. He stressed that no action could be taken during the private consultation; any formal decision concerning a settlement would have to come in public.

Monday puts the issue before the new Council in public for the first time at a regular meeting.

Gateway is challenging Planning and Zoning’s June 2 denial of a preliminary plan for 42 townhomes on about 5.13 acres along Main Street. The company argues its proposal complies with the enrolled zoning ordinance and the zoning manual originally provided by the county. Moore County says commissioners properly applied tighter density requirements that it contends Metro Council approved in August 2025 but that were left out of the enrolled ordinance because of a clerical error.

Moore County has acknowledged the property would support 42 units under the enrolled ordinance and original zoning-manual language. Under the doubled square-footage requirements the county says Council actually approved, the maximum would be 21. Gateway argues the county cannot enforce requirements that were never included in the enrolled ordinance.

The two sides also disagree over how a half-acre requirement applies to the project and whether Planning and Zoning had sufficient evidence to deny the preliminary plan over traffic and access concerns. Moore County denies the commission acted illegally or arbitrarily. Gateway has asked Chancery Court to reverse the June 2 denial and order the plan approved or send it back for another review.

First order of business for a new Council

Gateway is not the Council’s only business Monday.

Members are scheduled to elect a chairperson and chair pro tem. The agenda also calls for appointment of a District 1 School Board member, along with appointments to several county boards. Brady Goodwin is listed for appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals, with additional appointments scheduled for the Historic Zoning and Solid Waste boards.

Council will also consider matters stemming from two new state laws affecting local government meetings. Public Chapter 599 deals with parliamentary rules, while Public Chapter 620 addresses public comment at meetings.

The Lynchburg/Moore County Chamber of Commerce is seeking street and Square closures connected to the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue on Oct. 9-10 and Halloween in the Hollow on Oct. 31.

Rezonings and school lease also on the table

• Two rezonings are scheduled for first reading. One would move a one-acre parcel identified as Tax Map 004, Parcel 007.00, from C-1 commercial zoning to R-2 residential. Another would rezone approximately 6.75 acres on Preston Ridge Road from A-1 agricultural-forestry to R-2 residential.

• A separate 9.4-acre rezoning from A-1 to R-2 returns under old business for second reading.

• Moore County Schools is asking Council to approve a five-year copier lease covering Moore County High School and Lynchburg Elementary School. Director of Schools Chad Moorehead told Council the agreement would cost about 20 percent less than the current contract. Because the lease crosses multiple fiscal years, Metro Council approval is required.

The Metro Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, at the American Legion, 119 Booneville Hwy. A public hearing is scheduled for 6:20 p.m.