GENTRY -- The planning and zoning commission on Thursday approved a tract split on Pioneer Lane for Larry and Joan Rahm and discussed zones for lands recently annexed into the city of Gentry.
The tract split approved by the commission divides a single tract into three separate lots to accommodate homes already built on the property. The split will come before the city council for approval at its regular March meeting.
Discussed by the commission was appropriate zoning for property recently annexed into the city. The commission plans to recommend appropriate zoning, prepare a zoning map and then hold a public hearing before making a final recommendation to the council in regard to zoning for the annexed lands.
Discussions on Thursday included newly annexed lands along Arkansas Highway 59 on the south side of the city and lands along Dawn Hill East Road, Marion Lee Road and Pioneer Lane. The commission suggested commercial zoning for a 300-foot-wide strip of land on each side of Arkansas Highway 59 (including some extensions where commercial businesses extend more than 300 feet from the highway) but including a residential overlay to allow modifications to homes within the area or the rebuilding of a home should it be destroyed by a fire or a storm.
The commission members said they wanted to take into consideration homes such as a historic home along the highway and the private home which was once the Apple Crest Bed and Breakfast.
R-2 Residential was suggested for lands west of the Highway between Flint Creek and the east-west portion of Pioneer Lane (with the exception of a parcel already zoned commercial). Industrial zoning was recommended for the lands where Mid-America Cabinet and the old box factory are located with other lands to the west of Dawn Hill Road and south of Flint Creek left Agricultural for the present time.
The commission plans to take up other annexed lands at future meetings and then present the proposed rezoning at a public hearing before a final plan is recommended to the council.
Lands annexed into the city come in initially zoned for agricultural use which allows for homes but also would allow for a variety of agricultural uses, including confined feeding operations. The commission is working to determine the most appropriate zoning for annexed lands which fits the current land uses but also protects landowners from uses not consistent with current uses.
General News on 02/21/2018