Solar, rezonings lead July agenda for Planning & Zoning
9:15 a.m. July 6, 2026
DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor
The Moore County Planning and Zoning Commission will meet Tuesday with a full agenda that includes the solar project, two rezoning requests, a minor plat review, and several policy-related topics. Commissioners are also scheduled to discuss the infrastructure plan/20-year plan.
The meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, in the basement of the County Building at 241 Main St.
New business includes a minor division plat review for Kaycee and Steven Edwards and Kayla Gleghorn on Woosley Road, involving a portion of Map 010, Parcel 019.03.
Commissioners also are expected to hear two rezoning requests. The first involves Joe Denby and Jennifer Savage at 3152 Tanyard Hill Rd., listed as Map 037, Parcel 037.00. The second involves Rodney and Jennifer Ervin and Brett Fanning on Highway 50, listed as Map 020, Parcel 039.00.
Ervin and Fanning appeared before the board in June 2025 to start the process of rezoning a 2.34-acre lot near Jiffy Mart along Highway 55 for proposed commercial use – a boat and RV storage facility.
The agenda also includes a request to address the commission about property at 51 Daniel Hollow Rd.
The board will also review June building permits, as well as roads and easements. Other new business items include aid of construction, the ongoing cease-and-desist order form creation with guidance from county attorney Bill Rieder, and windmills.
Aid of Construction, often called Contribution in Aid of Construction, is a utility-finance mechanism that can require a developer or customer to help pay for the infrastructure needed to serve a new project.
In practice, that can mean contributing to water lines, sewer improvements, pumps, meters, or other system upgrades associated with the development. The purpose is to keep the cost of growth from falling entirely on existing utility customers.
Planning and Zoning Chairman Dexter Golden broached the issue with the MUD board in May, asking whether new development should bear more of the utility infrastructure costs it creates.
As it stands, MUD guidelines are already in place: The utility never builds anything past a water meter, and any extra lines run to new customers are funded through grants, with new customers paying a higher price for a set number of years to cover the project costs. Also, when anything passes MUD inspection, it is not automatically turned over to MUD. The developer is responsible for all repairs of the new system past the meter for one year.
About the 'windmills' topic ...
The agenda item leaves scope unclear ahead of Tuesday's meeting. For now, that one word raises more questions than answers. The public agenda does not include an applicant, property owner, proposed ordinance, site plan, or explanation of what commissioners will be asked to consider.
That distinction matters.
The agenda does not specify whether the item concerns a small private windmill, a zoning question, a discussion of future regulations, or a larger wind-energy project. It also does not indicate whether any company or landowner has submitted a formal request.
Golden has said in previous Planning and Zoning meetings that the county needs to get ahead of windmills and implement zoning ordinances to protect the county.
The item is unusual enough to draw attention in Moore County, where growth, infrastructure, rural land use, and renewable-energy projects have become recurring public issues. A private windmill used for on-site power, farm use, or another accessory purpose would raise a different set of questions than a commercial wind-energy facility. Larger wind projects can involve road access for heavy equipment, utility connections, setbacks from neighboring properties, noise standards, and long-term decommissioning plans.
Tennessee law also places specific requirements on wind-energy facilities, including a setback from nonparticipating property lines equal to 3.5 times the turbine's total height, measured from the base to the highest point of the blade.
In a small county with homes, farms, roads, ridgelines, and divided property ownership, such a requirement can quickly become a major siting issue. Moore County’s ridges and hollows could also become part of the discussion, though elevation alone does not make a site suitable for wind energy.
Access, wind consistency, transmission, setbacks, nearby homes, and surrounding land uses would all matter.
Planning commissioners could use Tuesday’s meeting to clarify the scope of the item and determine whether Moore County’s zoning rules already address wind-energy systems or whether additional local standards should be studied.