Townsend could change its legal definitions of hotels and campgrounds amid public displeasure at the approval of a proposed hotel development in city limits. In a work session Monday night, April 22, the Townsend Planning Commission made plans for new definitions to balance public opinion and necessity.
The proposed hotel definition would closely match a definition from the state, and the campground definition would reflect modern forms of camping including glamping and semi-permanent camp structures.
Additional changes discussed included updating the definition of accessory use and structures and adding a definition for accessory residences. Commissioners also proposed raising the minimum lot size to 0.75 acres and limiting the minimum size of a residence.
Townsend officials have been searching for ways to update the city’s terminology — which Townsend Mayor Don Prater has publicly described as outdated — since the January planning commission approval of a novel hotel concept. The project, dubbed Ofland Great Smoky Mountains, is widely referred to by its previous name of Yonder.
The approved plans would place dozens of independent cabins with a bathroom, outdoor shower and fire pit surrounding a central facility for food. Developers also plan to install a drive-in-style outdoor theatre.
The Planning Commission has defended its decision to a vocal group of residents after calls to recall the approval due to improper procedure.
On Monday, commissioners agreed the city needs to update its terminology for campgrounds and hotels. Planning Commissioner Haskell Rhett, who was not on the commission at the time of the vote, pointed out Ofland’s developers initially came to the city proposing a campground but were able to gain approval as a hotel just by removing pads for tents.
Updates
Michael Talley, planning commission chair, said he thinks of hotels and campgrounds in terms of use. The city’s current definition of a hotel includes alternative names like a motel, motor court or inn.
“To me, if you bring the roof over your head, you’re camping. If the roof is already there, you’re in one of these other definitions,” said Talley.
Ofland, Talley said, is closer to a motor court or motel, since guests will drive up to the cabins and access them from the outside.
Commissioners agreed to ask city staff to draft a new hotel definition modeled after state code that includes “any structure or space, or any portion thereof, that is occupied, intended or designed for occupancy by transients for dwelling, lodging or sleeping purposes.”
The proposed change departs from Townsend’s current definition of a “building or a portion thereof, or a group of buildings” that allowed Ofland to qualify as a hotel.
Camping
Commissioners also asked city staff to draft a new definition of a campground — one that would allow the city to limit the ratio of permanent and semi-permanent buildings included in the development.
The city, Prater said, needs to adapt to new forms of camping, such as “glamping” in semi-permanent structures such as hard-sided tents and yurts that might already be waiting with furnishings at campgrounds. The market for such accommodations is rising, he said, and the city needs to keep abreast of changes.
Prater previously told the audience of a March Townsend Commission meeting that he felt the city’s definitions had been used against residents. During Monday’s meeting, commissioners said any proposed campgrounds would fall under the city’s B3 zoning, and there is no land in Townsend currently zoned B3.
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