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Loudon BZA approves 300-foot variance for towing service at 3827 Lee Highway after legal dispute
Summary
The Board of Zoning Appeals approved a variance allowing a towing/storage operation at 3827 Lee Highway to operate within the 300-foot buffer from a residential district after city counsel and a citizen disagreed on whether state junkyard definitions apply.
The Board of Zoning Appeals in Loudon City approved a variance for a towing and vehicle storage operation at 3827 Lee Highway, waiving part of the ordinance’s 300-foot separation from a nearby residential district.
City attorney Chris, after reviewing the Loudon City Code and zoning ordinance, told the board he did not believe the state’s 1967 Junkyard Control Act definitions were interchangeable with the city’s code and recommended allowing the use contingent on the variance for the rear strip of the property. "I believe this proposed use is not prohibited by either the Loudon City Code or the Loudon Zoning Ordinance," Chris said during the meeting.
Citizen Cardwell, speaking as a private citizen, urged delay and challenged that legal reading, citing Tennessee Code Annotated and saying state law distinguishes a junkyard and an automobile graveyard and requires a 1,000-foot separation from federal highways such as Highway 11. "Tennessee Code Annotated . . . defines what a junkyard is and what an automobile graveyard is," Cardwell said, calling for further investigation before approval.
Commissioners discussed how the city ordinance and state law interact, enforcement responsibility and the functional difference between towing operations and a commercial junkyard. Staff noted the storage area shown on the site plan is confined (roughly a 100-by-100-foot storage area) and that a narrow, largely unbuildable strip of the parcel made the requested waiver logical for use of the property.
After deliberation the board voted to approve the variance to waive the 300-foot buffer along the rear parcel line while keeping other buffer requirements intact. The motion passed by voice vote; no roll-call tally naming each vote was recorded on the record.
Board members and staff emphasized that legal questions about the scope of state versus city definitions remain outstanding and that those questions should be resolved separately. The applicant named in the record was Jack Walls; the property owners are Dennis and Chastity Hoffman. The board’s action allows the applicant to proceed with site approvals subject to the variance and any required permits.
