The Vonore Regional Planning Commission approved a subdivision in the Niles Ferry Industrial Park at its meeting on Monday.

The 50-acre property, owned by Monroe County, started as four lots and was combined into three lots. One of the lots, containing 32 acres, will be where the new cellulosic ethanol plant will be located.

The plat listed Mascoma, the company that was originally supposed to build the plant, as the owner of the 32-acre lot. However, Mascoma has not purchased the property and likely will not. The University of Tennessee’s Research Foundation has created a limited liability company, called Genera, which will oversee the plant. It is unclear who will be the actual owner at this time.

County Attorney Jerome Melson attended the meeting on behalf of the county. He said he did not know of a closing date or who the owner would be, though he speculated that it could be Genera.

The new energy company is not through with the Vonore Planning Commission yet. It will have to appear before the board again with a site plan before it can begin building the groundbreaking cellulosic ethanol research plant. The university has said it hopes to break ground sometime this fall and produce the first gallon of “grassoline” by 2010.

In other business, the commission voted to approve its 2008-09 Annual Report and Program Design. This seven-page document lists what the commission accomplished during the past year and what it hopes to accomplish during the coming year.

During the last year, from July 2007 through June 2008, the Vonore Regional Planning Commission held 12 regularly scheduled meetings. Mayor Fred Tallent attended all 12, as did Chairman Bill McElhaney. Vice-Chairman Steve Sloan attended 10 meetings; Larry Meyers attended nine meetings; Jennifer Wiggins attended eight meetings, as did Secretary T. C. Dixon; and Mike Garren, who was appointed in November 2007, attended seven meetings.

The commission also:

• reviewed 14 final subdivision plats and four preliminary plats

• reviewed two site plans for new development

• evaluated three zoning requests

• recommended two zoning text amendments

• held five informal consultations regarding proposed subdivision developments

• held four Board of Zoning Appeals meetings and reviewed five scheduled agenda items

• reviewed four variances and four special exception requests as the Board of Zoning Appeals

During the upcoming year, July 2008 through June 2009, the commission hopes to develop a short term or two year strategic plan to support the 10-year Land Use Plan it recently adopted. The commission also hopes to review its subdivision regulations and amend them as necessary. As is required by law, commissioners will continue to receive four hours of training per calendar year.

The next meeting of the Vonore Regional Planning Commission meeting will be Monday, July 21 at 7 p.m. in the town’s community center.

melissa.kinton@advocateand democrat.com | 337-7101