The Jefferson County Regional Planning Commission on Tuesday continued debate over a proposed C‑3 wholesale and warehouse commercial zoning district after commissioners and staff spent more than an hour discussing definitions, permissible agricultural processing and how to confine higher‑impact uses.

Planner Brooks presented a draft that would create a new C‑3 district positioned between commercial and industrial zones and add “value‑added processing” as an allowable or conditional activity. Commissioners asked for clearer definitions and a list of concrete conditions before voting.

Why it matters: The item would give local producers and small manufacturers an additional zoning pathway to process agricultural products, warehouse goods or operate small‑scale manufacturing without rezoning to general industrial districts. Commissioners and members of the public said clear conditions are needed to protect adjoining rural and residential properties.

Key points of the discussion
Definitions and limits: Brooks outlined draft definitions gathered from multiple sources (the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and university extension guidance, North Carolina enabling language and county comparisons). Draft limits discussed included minimum parcel size (a suggested 10 acres for agricultural value‑added processing) and a requirement that at least a majority (roughly 50–51%) of processed product come from locally produced inputs in some model language.

Slaughterhouses: Commissioners flagged slaughterhouses as a particularly sensitive use. Brooks said the draft could explicitly exclude slaughterhouses from the standard value‑added definition or reclassify them as a conditional use with specific criteria (for example, frontage on a state route and restrictions on travel routes through residential areas).

Public‑health and utilities: Commissioners pressed for explicit requirements for public water and for removal of a blanket public‑sewer requirement in the draft, noting that many county parcels lack sewer; the body agreed to seek a compromise requiring access to public water but to strike a mandatory sewer connection for conditional uses.

Next steps and action
The commission voted to roll the C‑3 resolution to the next meeting and asked staff to circulate a revised draft. Planned follow‑up items include: refining a definition of “value‑added processing,” producing a short list of conditions for higher‑impact uses (slaughterhouses, large processors), and checking other counties’ models (Washington County and examples cited in North Carolina and Maryland). Staff also agreed to email proposed changes to commissioners ahead of the next agenda.

Ending: The commission kept open the option of adding value‑added processing either by amending A‑1 (agricultural) regulations or by allowing it, with conditions, in the new C‑3 district. Commissioners said they prefer to craft specific, enforceable criteria rather than leave the term open to broad interpretation.