Missed deadline, litigation halt apartments discussion

8:54 p.m. Dec. 2, 2025

The conversation began about one minute into the meeting. The first part of the back-and-forth lasted about 5 minutes. Then the board handled other business for about 18 minutes before Golden again addressed Woodis. The above audio is the discussion between Golden and Woodis. Both remained composed and professional throughout the exchange,

DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor

During Tuesday’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, a site plan from Gateway Companies, which is currently suing Moore County, was the main topic of discussion. Troy Woodis, representing the company, asked why their site plan, submitted six weeks earlier, was not included on the agenda.

Commission Chair Dexter Golden said the site plan was removed from the agenda based on advice from the county attorney.

Woodis questioned the timing and pointed out that no rule prevents submitting site plans during a lawsuit. “Usually, whenever the lawyers get involved, it's between the lawyers at this point,” he said. “There’s nothing in your code or anything else that says that you can't submit a site plan for approval, even if there's a pending litigation. And it was submitted before there was pending litigation. So, I don't understand why I would be taken off.”

Golden replied that both a missed deadline and the ongoing lawsuit were reasons for the removal. “You were late on that [submission]. You didn't get that in time, and we discussed that. You were going to be here in December. [Then] you sent the litigation in ...” he said.

Gateway filed its lawsuit on Nov. 10. The county has not responded yet.

The dispute centers on Gateway’s January 2025 agreement to buy 5.13 acres on Main Street, where they planned to build a 42-unit apartment complex using federal low-income housing tax credits from the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

At first, the land was zoned R-1 Residential District, which allowed suburban multi-family apartments. Gateway got written confirmation from local officials, including:

• The utility department, confirming there was enough water and sewer capacity for up to 44 units.
• Mayor Sloan Stewart, confirming that apartments were allowed under the zoning rules.
• Duck River EMC, confirming there was enough electric capacity.

After getting all the needed approvals, Gateway applied for and received THDA low-income housing tax credits in July.

In April, the Planning and Zoning Commission suggested changes to the zoning ordinance to:

• Remove apartments as a permitted use in R-1 zones.
• Require apartments to be rezoned to C-1 Commercial.
• Double the minimum lot size required for R-1 homes and apartments.
• Limit apartment developments to 25 units.

The Metro Council approved these changes in May.

Gateway claims these changes were made without proper public notice or hearings, which they say violates Tennessee’s Open Meetings Act and local zoning rules.

On Tuesday, Golden repeated that the site plan could not move forward without Metro Council approval and explained the role of the county’s outside engineer, Tony Grow. “I said you could come here tonight, and you have to understand that nothing's changed outside the council. I can't change that.

“Tony would have to be here to see your plan. ... You would've had to bring your plan tonight. We would've had to make a recommendation to send it to Tony, and then Tony would've took it from there. It's not an overnight process,” Golden explained.

He concluded by reiterating the normal process for site plan review. “Under normal operating procedures ... you would've presented that. We would've looked at it, [and said] ‘Tony, we would like to get your help on this.’ We would work together, and everything would've been just moving right along.”