The Greene County Commission approved a resolution Tuesday night that provides relief to some property-owners with landlocked parcels. The resolution changes the county’s zoning ordinances to allow for one building permit to be issued for the construction of a primary residence on a landlocked property that has not frontage on a county or state road. In order to obtain the single building permit, a landlocked property must have had a deeded right-of-way easement or subdivision prior to July 1, 2006 and the property and easement must be surveyed and verified by a surveyor or attorney in writing.
The commission approved the resolution by way of a 15-4 vote, with County Commissioners Chase Murray, Brad Peters, John Waddle, and Larkin Clemmer voting against the measure. Commissioners Kathy Crawford, Nick Gunter, Josh Arrowood, Jan Kiker, Robin Quillen, Tim Smithson, Bill Dabbs, Lyle Parton, Pam Carpenter, Hoot Bowers, Gary Shelton, Jeffery Bible, Lisa Anderson, Teddy Lawing, and Paul Burkey voted in favor of the measure. Commissioners Tim White and Jason Cobble were absent from the meeting.
Peters made a motion to delay the vote on the resolution for one month saying he received a call from a constituent asking for a delay because the change could impact a property dispute and court case she was involved in. Peters’ motion failed with 14 voting against the delay and 5 voting for it. Murray, Peters, Bowers, Waddle, and Clemmer voted in favor of delaying the measure.
Peters said that he understood that there was no perfect solution to the issue.
Greene County’s Building Code Special Committee on Land Issues was created in October 2025 to study road frontage issues for some landlocked parcels in Greene County after some property owners appealed to county officials for relief.
The special committee met twice in early December 2025, and in the process created the resolution and recommended it to the Greene County Planning Commission. The Greene County Planning Commission subsequently recommended the resolution to the full County Commission during its Dec. 9, 2025 meeting.
When Greene County adopted zoning in 1984 it prohibited the construction of residences off of easements. However, several properties have been illegally subdivided after 1984, at times without a current property owner’s knowledge, leaving many parcels with accessible only through easements.
The resolution was crafted carefully by officials in an effort to avoid dismantling the county’s adopted zoning structure. The resolution basically creates a one time exception for some landlocked parcels with easements.
The resolution allows for a single building permit for a primary residence, but no further permits will be issued for a landlocked property after it receives the single permit.
Properties will have to abide by all other zoning regulations, and will not be permitted to be subdivided off an easement.
The year 2006 was chosen as the cutoff for the new policy by county officials because it was the year that zoning regulations became more strictly and consistently enforced.
Greene County Attorney Roger Woolsey reminded the members of the County Commission Tuesday night that the county’s action would not impact whether or not local utilities would provide services to landlocked parcels. Woolsey said the county “won’t have any control” over utilities, which have their own guidelines they follow when providing services. The county cannot force utilities to provide services to a property. Therefore, it is possible that a property owner could obtain a one-time building permit off a verified easement, but that they may not be able to obtain utility water or power.
Waddle asked how many landlocked properties were in Greene County that would fall under the resolution.
“I don’t think anyone knows, but we’re about to find out,” Peters said.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the County Commission voted unanimously to authorized Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison to obtain bids for the construction of a three story addition to the Greene County Courthouse that will contain restrooms. The three-story addition will include about 4,350 square feet, mostly taken up by six public restrooms in addition to employee bathrooms.
The addition is being pursued by county officials due to persistent plumbing issues in the courthouse, which cannot be properly addressed due to the presence of asbestos and concrete encased pipes. The creation of the addition allows the courthouse to remain open, while the issue if remedied through the creation of new bathrooms.
Morrison said it was “unfortunate” that the project had fallen to the current commission to deal with, but that the issue had become an “emergency situation” due to 60 years of neglect to the courthouse.
Clemmer asked if the restroom addition was the “best long-term option,” and Morrison said that it was the most “cost-effective” option at the moment. He noted the construction of a new courthouse and jail, known as a Justice Center, would likely be hundred of millions of dollars.
Smithson, who is on the courthouse renovation committee, said there was not perfect fix for the plumbing situation at the over 100 year-old courthouse.
“This is not a perfect solution. Other than tearing down the courthouse and starting all over again, this is pretty much it,” Smithson said. “It’s very scaled down. It’s bare bones.”
Bids for the project will be considered by the county’s Purchasing Committee once received. If a bid is approved, the County Commission would then consider allocating funding to the project, likely through a bond issuance with payments coming out of the county’s capital projects debt service fund.
In other business, the commission unanimously approved the remount of two ambulances on new chassis at a cost of $450,000, and unanimously approved a resolution entering into a “Good Neighbor Agreement” with the U.S. Forest Service. The agreement will see the county cooperate with the Forest Service on projects in Greene County in the Cherokee National Forest in places such as Paint Creek Recreation Area, Horse Creek Recreation Area, and Viking Mountain. There is no funding from the county required for the projects, one of which is expected to be the expansion of the campground Horse Creek.
The commission also approved a resolution requesting the Tennessee legislature allocate one half of real estate transfer tax collected to the county the transfer tax was collected in. Currently, counties receive only 5% according to the resolution. The resolution is simply a request to the legislature and does not compel action by the state. Waddle and Clemmer voted against the resolution.
