Stewart advises P&Z to defer Gateway review

Mayor urged commissioners to await legal guidance before revisiting developer’s proposed 42-home plan

7:34 p.m. Aug. 4, 2026

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

Mayor Sloan Stewart advised the Moore County Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday not to discuss or act on Gateway Development Corporation’s site plan after a civil summons in the case arrived late that afternoon.

The summons relates to Gateway’s July 30 petition asking Moore County Chancery Court to overturn the commission’s June 2 rejection of its preliminary site plan for 42 attached homes along Main Street. Gateway argues commissioners lacked evidence to support the denial and misread county rules governing density, town lots, traffic requirements, and the definition of a townhouse. Gateway wants the court to order the plan approved or return it to the commission for another review.

Chancellor J.B. Cox granted the writ July 30, giving the Planning Commission, Board of Zoning Appeals and Moore County 30 days to file the complete record of the commission’s June 2 denial and the BZA’s July 21 deadlock.

The Gateway site-plan review appeared on Tuesday’s agenda. After speaking with County Attorney Bill Rieder, who was not at the meeting, Stewart recommended that commissioners defer the matter until they receive legal guidance.

A civil summons is a formal court notice directing a defendant to appear and defend a civil case. It does not decide the dispute or establish that anyone did anything wrong.

Stewart recommended that the commission “not take any action tonight” until Rieder could explain what the summons means and advise the board on how to proceed.

He said asking commissioners to decide the matter without legal guidance could burden the board and create additional expense for the county.

Commissioners followed his recommendation. They did not discuss the site plan or take a vote.

Stewart said a copy of the summons would be entered into the record.

Road concerns remain

Although the commission did not take up Gateway’s site plan, Highway Superintendent Shannon Cauble used the public comment period to renew her concerns about traffic and access along Main Street.

Cauble said her July 7 technical review relied on conservative traffic projections and that the developments under consideration would likely generate more vehicle trips than the report estimated.

She said trip-generation estimates tend to be higher in rural areas where walking is rarely practical.

Cauble gave commissioners excerpts from the Metro Charter, zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations, and land use and transportation plan. She said those documents place responsibility on developers to build or improve roads needed to serve their projects.

Cauble also recounted a June 18 meeting with Gateway representatives and the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

According to Cauble, TDOT told Gateway representatives that local approval would be required before the company could secure state approval for access to Main Street.

Cauble said she raised concerns about U-turns and other hazards that could result from the restricted right-in/right-out-only entrance Gateway had discussed.

Gateway representatives asked about conducting a traffic study, she said. TDOT transportation engineer Stanley Sumner told them the study would be unlikely to change the situation but that the company had the right to commission one.

Cauble said she has not received or heard anything further about a study.

“My administrative deferral stands until the road is brought up to the safety standards outlined in that meeting,” she said.

Development pause remains under review

The commission also continued discussing a possible moratorium on major developments while the county reviews its zoning rules and works toward a new 20-year land use plan.

No vote was taken.

Commissioners recently attended a state-led training session and are considering whether a temporary pause would give the county time to identify gaps in its regulations and determine whether local infrastructure can support additional growth.

The proposal would have to go before the Metro Council. The county would also have to define what qualifies as a major development.

The discussion centered on whether roads, schools, water service, utilities, and volunteer fire departments could keep pace with new construction without shifting the cost of growth to taxpayers.

Commissioners were asked to continue reviewing the proposal before it returns to the agenda.

The board also reviewed a broader zoning resolution dealing with industries that could place unusually heavy demands on utilities and other infrastructure.

Data centers were used as an example, although no data center proposal is currently before the county.

Chairman Dexter Golden said a blanket prohibition may not be enough. The county may need written standards outlining what its infrastructure can accommodate and what requirements an applicant would have to meet.

The resolution is expected to return at the commission’s next meeting.

Solar deliveries complete

Representatives of the Silicon Ranch solar project reported that equipment deliveries are complete and much of the structural foundation work is wrapping up.

Crews continue to install the racking that will hold the solar panels.

The project expects TVA backfeed in September.

Work near a beaver dam remains delayed because the area is still too wet for heavy equipment.