Planning commission recommends rezoning for RV and boat storage on John Bragg Highway

The Rutherford County Regional Planning Commission on June 8 recommended approval of a rezoning that would allow outdoor RV and boat storage at the corner of John Bragg Highway and Murphysboro Street.

Staff said the applicant seeks to rezone roughly 4.55 acres from residential medium density to Commercial General to permit an outdoor storage facility for recreational vehicles, boats and shipping containers, a use classified as automotive parking that requires a special exception from the Board of Zoning Appeals. County planner Mr. Damasi told the commission the application originally came in as light industrial but staff and the applicant agreed Commercial General better fits the proposed use and the concept plan included in the packet shows mostly open storage with some covered bays at the southern end.

Neighbors at the public hearing urged caution. James Paul, who said he has lived on Woodbury Street since 1960, told the commission the applicant had already been storing items on the site without following proper approvals and said he feared a storage yard would harm the small neighborhood. Shelley Brewer, who lives across Woodbury Street, said families and children routinely use nearby streets and that trailers and boats turning onto the state highway would create safety and cut-through traffic concerns.

Applicant Carlton James Vaughn and engineer Bill Huddleston described the proposal as a low-frequency traffic generator — customers do not visit daily — and said the operation would resemble other permitted RV/boat storage facilities the county has approved. Staff noted the property contains significant placed fill in places and that any future development would require site-plan review, buffers, and possible coordination with the Tennessee Department of Transportation for turn lanes or other improvements along John Bragg Highway.

A commissioner moved to recommend approval and asked that the Board of Zoning Appeals consider removing shipping containers as part of any special-exception approval. The commission called the roll and recorded a unanimous favorable recommendation; BZA and county commission action remain required before development could proceed.

The commission’s approval recommends rezoning only; it does not itself authorize the automotive-parking use, which must be approved by the Board of Zoning Appeals and followed by a required site plan review that would address buffers, paving, stormwater, and any DOT improvements.