Commission votes down County Powers Act

Published 4:21 pm Tuesday, July 29, 2025

After much discussion and feedback from a large crowd in attendance, the Claiborne County Commission voted unanimously to not enact the County Powers Act at their regular meeting last Monday evening.

Enacting the resolution would have given the commission the authority to address nuisances and other issues that arise in unincorporated areas of the county in much the same way that municipalities are able to.

Commission Whit Shuford had brought the resolution last month when a vote was originally tabled. Monday he said there was a lot of misinformation about what the County Powers Act was intended to do.

“This was not brought up to limit where you can and cannot shoot your guns.” he said. “We’re not here to discuss zoning, if that was the case I would be against it. What we’re trying to do is address small issues that could be considered a nuisance. Zoning wipes with a wide paintbrush and incorporates all kinds of rules and regulations in one fell swoop. We’re definitely not here to tell you how high you can let your grass grow, which was one of the things that I’ve heard over the last week.”

Shuford went on to explain that the act would not have any impact on people who live inside of a city or the owners of existing businesses in the county.

“This is to address concerns of things that are coming in the future,” he said. “One of the main things I’ve heard from people is that they don’t want to lose our little town or our community. .  Unfortunately there is change happening and we can’t do anything about it.”

He mentioned a data mining center that opened in the southern part of the county that upset some community members and the commission had nothing in place to regulate where it could be opened. He also mentioned a company that incinerates medical waste was looking for property in east Tennessee and without the powers act they county could not limit where such a business could operate.

County Mayor Joe Brooks said any complaints about nuisances would go to the planning commission before being brought to the full County Commission. Any regulation adopted or any action taken to enforce a regulation would have to be approved by a two-third vote of the full commission.

Several community members in the audience were able to speak about how they felt about the County Powers Act and about three quarters of them seemed to be against it.

Travis Lester had questions about who would be responsible for deciding whether something was a nuisance. A lady from the Harrogate Senior Center said she had heard from several older property owners who were concerned about what could happen in the future if the act was passed.

Commissioners Dennis Cook and Zachary Bunch both said they had spoken with a Grainger County Commissioner who said they had voted in such an act and they regretted it.

Commissioner Steve Brogan said he has had issues a couple of times in the past year with junkyards as well as with a home in his subdivision that was having sewer run-off issues.

“I contacted the state and it got taken care of every time. I didn’t go in front of the planning commission, I didn’t bring it in front of us, I called the state and they took care of it,” he said. “If I own property, I ought to be able to do what I want with my own property.”

Another community member, Chris Parker, said suggested the County Powers Act was a way for the local community to take care of itself instead of having to call on the state to solve a local issue.

Commissioner Zach Mullins said even if the commission approved certain guidelines intended to limit the county powers act, a different set of commissioners could got back and change those guidelines.

“I’ve had a lot of calls on this and since I’ve sat in this seat I’ve voted on what the majority of my constituents wanted, that’s what I was elected to do,” he said. “My stance on this is that if you pay your property taxes, you do with your land what you want to do with your land and it’s not up to this body to tell you how to use your land.”

A motion by Shuford to table the resolution until a later date failed by a 1-20 margin. Then a motion to adopt the resolution failed 21-0.