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Coordinating committee to finalize growth-boundary recommendation; commission questions timeline and impasse process
Summary
Commissioners reviewed the coordinating committee's urban growth boundary timeline, heard that the committee will issue a recommendation on March 13, and discussed whether the commission has adequate time to act before the April 7 voting session; staff said an impasse process exists but no fixed approval deadline for the county was identified.
Commissioners reviewed a timeline for the coordinating committee's urban growth boundary procedure and discussed scheduling and decision deadlines after staff said the committee will deliver a formal recommendation following public hearings on March 12 and March 13.
Commissioner Slater outlined the timeline: the coordinating committee is scheduled to meet and to hold two public hearings (March 12 and March 13), and the committee's final vote will precede submission of a recommendation to the three legislative bodies (Bradley County, City of Cleveland, and City of Charleston). The county commission's voting session was proposed for April 7 to take action on the recommended growth plan to meet state submission deadlines.
Several commissioners asked how long the county has to accept or reject the committee's recommendation after receiving it. County staff and legal counsel advised there is no statutorily specified fixed period for the county to act after receipt; however, the coordinating committee has a 120-day timeline to produce its initial recommendation. County staff noted either municipal or county jurisdiction can declare an "impasse," after which the Secretary of State can be asked to intervene; that mechanism is described as an escalation step rather than a deadline the county must meet by a specific calendar date.
Commissioners expressed concern that receiving the formal recommendation on March 13 could leave the county little time to analyze materials before an April 7 vote, and asked staff to confirm statutory timelines and explain how long the county has to accept or reject the recommendation. Staff said they would double-check statutory deadlines and provide clarifying details to commissioners.
Ending
County staff will confirm the statutory timeline and return with clarified deadlines and next steps. The coordinating committee's public hearings and final vote were scheduled in March, and the commission reserved April 7 as the potential voting session date.
