The Tallassee City Council passed the Tallassee Planning Commission's updated zoning manual and map with a 5-2 vote on Tuesday night. The new zoning will make all of the city's main thoroughfares zoned for commercial business, including the highly contested Jordanville area.
This update to the municipal zoning manual and map will also allow the city planning commission to accept or reject a new business's proposal. Prior to these updates a potential business had to first bring a proposal to the planning commission; if approved, the proposal went before the Tallassee City Council to be approved or denied.
The city council held a public hearing Sept. 8 regarding the adoption of updates to the Tallassee zoning ordinance and map as recommended by the city planning commission. Several members of the Jordanville community spoke out against the proposed update.
Before voting in favor of the measure, councilmember Terrell Brown explained the changes are citywide and are not exclusive to the Jordanville community.
"There's been many arguments amongst our citizens about the growth of Tallassee," Brown said. "Many think that it is a group of people that are holding businesses back from coming to our city. What we don't know is that it's not a group of people that are stopping new businesses from coming to our city; it's our outdated ordinances that are preventing businesses from coming to our city. That is the reason why I am definitely for it. I think there was rumor that all this was for a particular piece of property, but we are actually updating all of our ordinances for all of Tallassee, not just for Jordanville, not just for east Tallassee — all of Tallassee. I think it's about time that we did update our ordinances."
After members of the Jordanville community expressed concerns over the safety of students who walk to school in the area if zoning was changed in the area,
Ward 3 councilmember Damian Carr said he is also concerned with safety but would like to see the city's zoning ordinances updated so business throughout Tallassee can grow.
"Safety is the first thing for me, first and foremost," Carr said. "Also, I want to see growth in my ward and throughout the city of Tallassee. I'm tired of seeing cities around us grow while we stay stagnant, so I would like to see Tallassee move forward. I'm grateful for this opportunity, not just for Jordanville, but for all of Tallassee."
Councilmember Bill Godwin, who grew up in the Jordanville community, expressed his views on updating city zoning ordinances.
"I think the key thing is, this is a citywide ordinance change, so we have to do what's best for the city," Godwin said. "One of the things this council has done, thank goodness, is taken the initiative to take the steps to move Tallassee into the 21st century through new revenue enhancement and different things, and it's paid off. It's actually paid off. One of the things that has been a detriment to businesses through the years coming in here has been bureaucracy they have to go through. And we have to compete with towns like Wetumpka who have an advantage over us. We have to do innovative things to move Tallassee forward."
Councilmembers David Stough and Darryl Wilson voted against the updates to the city's zoning manual and map.