Clerical Error Brings Daycare Amendment to Council Early

A clerical error put a proposed amendment to the city’s R-15 zoning designation concerning day nurseries on the Smyrna City Council agenda two weeks early.

Ward 5 Council Representative Susan Wilkinson proposed the amendment to the zoning designation on behalf of .

The amendment was discussed by the , but that body couldn’t reach a conclusion on the matter so it was tabled till the July 9 Planning and Zoning Board meeting.

Had Planning and Zoning made a recommendation for Council at that meeting it would have been put on the agenda for the meeting held Monday, July 2. The amendment was not put on the agenda, but a public hearing for the amendment was still advertised in the newspaper, said Ward 1 Council Representative Melleny Pritchett.

“When we do an ad, community development does that add on the basis that Planning and Zoning is going to approve it or might approve it,” she said. “That starts the clock running for the amount of time before it can move to Council. That’s the reason it was there and the city does not have a policy to cancel an ad. Planning and Zoning was tabled and that’s the reason there was an understanding.”

Wilkinson made a motion to table the public hearing for the amendment till the Council’s next meeting on July 16, which Council approved 6-1 with Pritchett opposing.

Also at the meeting, Council approved the Ward 4 appointment to the Smyrna Tree board, approved the previous meeting’s minutes and authorized Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon to sign off on a workstation upgrade to emergency call center facilities.