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Found this on the web:

Although this was the man’s home and was zoned residential, don’t think he was trying to rezone a property in the middle of a neighborhood. This area is diverse in the number of residential and commercial properties. His address, 1517 Madison St, is right in the middle and across the street from property already zoned commercial. 1498, 1500, 1501, 1503, 1510, 1511, and 1516 Madison St are just to name a few.

Thanks for that additional information. I advise planning boards and zoning boards for a couple of small towns in this area. These people are volunteers, and I have found that they try to do what is right, in my experience. They don’t usually have axes to grind.

I don’t know what the back story may be here. I also don’t know what “commercial zoning” may mean in this city. His application might have allowed (even though he wouldn’t necessarily have wanted to operate) an adult establishment or who knows what. I can’t immediately fault the city because this guy made a deadly decision.

Very elucidating post, BTL.

I'm just wondering if the town's government and /or zoning commission is composed of 'Rat libs who reflected their hatred of Bud's patriotic actions by spot-denying him rezoning even though he's in the midst of commercial.

In view of the twisted, vengeful virulence of petty leftist fascists, I wouldn't discount my theory as too far off the beam.

Leni

Your addresses are wrong - but from looking at the satellite shots it does appear that there is quite a bit of zoned commercial and/or industrial surrounding the barber shop.
View Larger Map http://maps.google.com/maps?num=50&hl=en&safe=off&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS230US230&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=bo's+barber+shop&near=Clarksville,+TN&fb=1&view=text&latlng=36616071,-87430772,2810307834371883121

I learned the following from Google Earth — Madison St. is US Highway 41, a four-lane divided highway and a road familiar to a lot of folks from Tampa to Chicago. Part of it is Northside Drive in Atlanta; part is Cobb Parkway just north of town; and part is Lakeshore Drive in Chicago.

1517 is surrounded by what appear to be medium-sized houses on all sides. There’s no way of telling from the air whether they’re in use as homes or offices, but they don’t have parking lots, and Google Earth doesn’t have any businesses listed. The closest clearly commercial structure is a motel three doors up, about .14 miles.

Google Earth doesn’t have plat maps, of course, so I can’t be sure where Ward’s property ends, but it looks to be several acres. More than big enough for, say, a supermarket. The surrounding lots appear to be much smaller. The board might have been concerned about the scale of a commercial operation that could open on Ward’s property.

But whatever the board’s rationale, and whether their decision was right or wrong, Bo Ward’s business was in trouble because he borrowed more money than he could afford, and the zoning decision did not take from him anything he had when he decided to incur that debt. And it should go without saying that if the board was wrong, an appeal is a better option than suicide.