Commissioners split on Sourwood Lane variance, approve family variance and Brandy rezone

The Walker County Board of Commissioners considered three planning-and-zoning petitions July 9 and reached three separate outcomes after hearing testimony from neighbors, owners and family representatives.

Sourwood Lane (Dorothy Hagan): The board reviewed a petition from Dorothy Hagan seeking a variance for a private drive. Neighbors and a nearby vacation-rental owner spoke in opposition, citing privacy and lane capacity concerns. The board moved to uphold the Planning Commission's recommendation to deny that variance and upheld the denial.

Angland family variance (Hannah/Sherry Angland): Attorneys and family members presented an estate-driven request to convey a roughly 1.01-acre parcel so Sherry Angland could remain in a mobile home without major hardship; counsel said the settlement and right-of-first-refusal provisions make the split temporary in practice. The Planning Commission had recommended denial as inconsistent with the county comprehensive plan. In the board's initial vote to deny, the motion failed with a reported tally of "3 nays and 1 aye," after which a motion to approve passed and the board approved the variance to convey the one-acre parcel.

Brandy rezone (750 Marble Top Road): Riley and Morgan Brandy asked to rezone a 4.29-acre parcel from R-2 (residential) to RA (residential-agriculture) for homesteading use. The Planning Commission had recommended approval and the board voted to approve the rezone.

All three items were considered in sequence during the meeting; the board discussed precedent concerns for private-drive variances and the county's 5-acre rule as background to decisions on the Angland petition.

Votes and next steps: The Hagan variance remained denied; the Angland variance was approved after the initial denial motion failed; the Brandy rezone was approved. The board recorded and finalized the orders at the meeting.