Incredible Properties hearing delayed again

NEWPORT — Once again a criminal hearing for Incredible Properties, LLC, has been rescheduled. The court date had been reset for March 25 at 9 a.m. in Cocke County General Sessions Court, but it has now been reset for April 22 at 9 a.m.

Incredible Properties, LLC, (IP) owned and operated by Randy Jones and is a company affiliated with Incredible Tiny Homes (ITH), was notified last August that elevation certificates were required for the homes at Tiny Towne, which is located at 850 Industrial Road.

The certificates are required because the Tiny Towne property is in a special flood hazard area (SFHA), which is identified by the FEMA flood insurance rate map (FIRM).

An SFHA is a high-risk zone with a 1% chance of flooding, which is also referred to as a 100-year floodplain.

A letter was addressed to Jones, who co-founded ITH with Amanda Hayes in 2014, stating it acted as a “formal request that you obtain and submit an elevation certificate for all the homes on your property located at 850 Industrial Road, Newport.”

Cocke County Floodplain Administrator Kathleen Alarcon sent that letter, along with a stop work order for Randy Jones that was dated Aug. 15, 2025.

On Dec. 4, 2025 criminal charges were filed against Incredible Properties, LLC, in Cocke County General Sessions Court for “violations of regulations of building/structure/land usage.”

The case stems from an ongoing dispute between Incredible Properties, ITH and the Cocke County Regional Planning Commission.

Planning commission records show that none of the developments located off Industrial Road and operated by Incredible Properties have been approved by the planning commission.

Commissioners have repeatedly asked for site plans. They have also asked for Jones to attend meetings, but he has not heeded those requests.

In February 2025 the Cocke County Legislative Body (CLB) voted unanimously to take action against Incredible Properties and ITH after the planning commission had voted in November 2024 to request enforcement for the company failing to comply with subdivision regulations.

Last August, the office of county attorney John Owings sent a letter to ITH expressing concern over the company’s failure to respond to the repeated requests for retired documentation, specifically site plans.

Court records show that Alarcon is the affiant in the case, and that the state is the plaintiff.

Elevation certificates are required under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), in which Cocke County is a participant.

The initial court date was set for Dec. 15, 2025 but it was rescheduled until Jan. 28, 2026. Upon the request of the attorney representing Incredible Properties, the January hearing was delayed until March 25.

Elevation certificates had not been provided to the floodplain administrator prior to the January hearing date, but on that date there were Tiny Towne residents who reported they had been notified by email from ITH that surveyors would be on the property over the course of the next few days.

Alarcon explained in the past to The Plain Talk that an elevation certificate is required for every structure on the property that is the SFHA, which includes the factory buildings and storage sheds as well as homes.

Surveyors prepare an elevation certificate by conducting a field survey. The job may require the use of tools such as GNSS/GPS laser range finders, or total stations to measure the lowest floor, adjacent ground levels, and utility elevations of a structure relative to FEMA flood maps. Through this approach, surveyors verify the building’s flood zone, document its structural characteristics, and certify the data on FEMA Form FF-206-FY-22-152, which is also known as an elevation certificate.

Under Tennessee Code Annotated 13-7-111, violations of county planning regulations constitute a Class C misdemeanor, with each day a violation continues being a separate offense.

The stop work order indicates that noncompliance with the order could result in a fine of up to $50 per day per infraction.