Commission debates notice rules, recommends annexation and B-5 zoning at 5840 Bobby Hicks Highway

The Planning Commission returned to unfinished business concerning an owner‑requested annexation and concurrent zoning assignment for roughly 3.9 acres at 5840 Bobby Hicks Highway and voted to recommend annexation with a Planned Community Business (B-5) zoning assignment and the plan of services submitted by staff.

At the start of the meeting the commission raised a substantive legal question: whether statutory notice and property posting requirements that apply to rezoning inside the city should also apply—and when—to owner‑requested annexations that include a requested zoning. Commissioners said they were concerned about consistency and transparency because rezoning inside city limits typically triggers earlier property posting and neighborhood notice, but staff and city legal counsel explained the Tennessee statutes set different notice triggers for annexation…