The Greene County Planning Commission on Tuesday passed a resolution identifying minimum qualifications for what constitutes a residence.

Tuesday's action bars people from living in structures, such as rental storage units, that do not have toilets, kitchens, running water and sewage disposal.

Such living situations are already illegal under the new International Residential Code that went into effect in Greene County on Jan. 1. The Town of Greeneville operates under the same building code, as well.

The resolution must now go to the county commission for approval for it to become law.

"We know there are folks occupying structures (with) no running water or bathroom facilities," said Greene County Attorney Roger Woolsey. He added, "You all have to decide if you want to continue to allow that."

Planning Commission members voted 5-2 in favor of the resolution, and against allowing anyone in Greene County in the future to inhabit a structure without bare necessities usually associated with a home.

The resolution does not affect anyone currently living in such substandard "housing," because, as with most new laws, they are "grandfathered in" through prior legislation.

The Greeneville Sun highlighted the situation of people living in storage units in a front-page article on Saturday.

The report cited two examples within the past year of people who lived in storage units, which are considerably cheaper than renting an apartment or house, but often don't have basic necessities like electricity to plug in heaters during cold winter days.

Commissioner John Carter said before the vote he knew of three people living separately, each in a storage shed, in the Horse Creek/Chuckey area located within two miles of his home.

Woolsey said he was aware of two reports of people living in structures in the county without a septic sewer system.

Carter and Sam Riley voted against the resolution after indicating they were indecisive about how to vote on the proposed measure.

"I'm not sure I'm ready to pull the trigger yet" and vote against people being able to live in storage units and other inexpensive structures, Carter said before voting against the resolution.

After the meeting ended, Carter told a reporter he was not particularly sympathetic toward the people near him living in storage sheds.

"Some of them are not trying to do better. They've been doing the same thing for three or four years," Carter said.

The five commissioners voting in favor of the resolution were: Margaret Greenway, Gary Rector, John Ottinger, Billy J. McCamey and Carroll Remine.

Tim Tweed, the building inspector in the county's Building & Zoning office, said before the vote, "Whether you vote for or against the resolution, it (minimum requirements for dwelling units) is still in the International Residential Code, so we're going to enforce it."

Commissioners also approved a separate resolution clarifying Greene County's zoning regulations so that all variances related to zoning go the county's board of zoning appeals, rather than the Building and Zoning Department.

In addition, commission members approved two subdivisions: the James Scott Jackson subdivision on Woolsey Road and Campbell Road, and the Elizabeth Britton Dixson subdivision on Carters Valley Road.

The Dixson subdivision request required two votes for approval since it was divided into two sections, one with five lots and another section with three lots.

Commissioners also approved the following minor subdivisions: the John F. and Linda G. Allen subdivision on River Bend Road; the Hensley Air Park Phase IIIA Redivision on Chuckey Pike; the Mary Ramsey property on McDonald Road; the Tarlton heirs property on Rollins Chapel Road; the Bob and Rebecca Baird subdivision on Whitehouse Road; the George and Eleanor estate subdivision on Doyle Davis Road; and the Kenneth and Edna McAmis subdivision on Sulphur Springs Road.

Other minor subdivisions approved were: the Fern Babb subdivision on Brittontown Road; the Charles Fox subdivision on Pigeon Hollow Road; the John Roger and Tammy Babb subdivision on Dunham Road; the Elizabeth Dixon Section 2 subdivision on Carters Valley Road; the Renee D. Swecker subdivision on Scott Way; and the Helen Brown subdivision on Henard Road.

Tweed distributed reports on the number of building permits issued in his department for the months of November and December.

He said the figures were "a little bit encouraging," with 39 permits issued in November, and 55 permits in December.

Carter said, "They probably got the wrong impression in their minds that if they bought permits before Jan. 1 (when the building codes went into effect), they wouldn't have the codes enforced" on their structures.

After the meeting, Tweed confirmed that was likely the case for the higher-than-expected numbers.