Committee hears engineers' loading-rate limits and developers warn higher rules raise housing costs

Terry and several committee members discussed hydraulic loading rates used by design engineers. Terry said engineers design using the worst horizon in a zone and noted the program document limits the maximum loading rate an engineer can request; "the most the engineer can ask for based on this document is 0.25," he said, and referenced that Rutherford County commonly reduces that baseline to lower rates (e.g., 0.15) for marginal soils.

A longtime local builder (speaker 4) cautioned that stricter local rules beyond state standards increase development costs and harm affordability. "It's unaffordable for the middle class," he said during a broader argument about rules and costs, and later illustrated construction cost pressures by citing that labor and materials are a minority share of a $400,000 house.

Committee members discussed whether stricter local measures (higher reserves or lower loading rates) were necessary for environmental protection or whether they should adhere closely to state baselines to preserve housing affordability. The steering group asked staff to collect concrete numbers and developer/installer experience for the next session.