Planning commission OKs zone change, studies new historic district zone

GENTRY -- The planning and zoning commission, after a number of public hearings on Thursday, approved requests for rezoning, a special-use permit and numerous other items related to plats and lot splits.

The commission approved a rezoning request of Cam and Jane Klassen for a parcel directly east of the former Garden Gate flower shop and adjacent to property used for the Wooden Spoon Restaurant. The requested change of the property zoned for single-family residential to C-2 commercial would allow the Klassens to move an old barn from south of Gentry to the location to be rebuilt and used in conjunction with an antique shop (for storage and as an annex) in the former flower shop building.

Janice Arnold, a resident of Parks Circle and a member of the city council, spoke on behalf of Parks Circle residents in opposition to the zoning change, saying she hated to see commercial property encroaching into their residential neighborhood because of possible issues with strangers parking in the neighborhood and also allowing their pets to relieve themselves on neighborhood lawns.

She submitted a petition with more than 30 signatures opposing the rezoning.

Commission chairman Mike Parks said the city needs commercial space along the highway if the city is to grow and thrive and it has been the practice of the commission to suggest that properties within 300 feet of the highway be zoned to allow for commercial use. Commission member Paul Church also spoke in favor of recommending the rezoning.

The rezoning request will now come before the city council with the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission to pass it.

The commission approved a request from First Baptist Church in Gentry for a special-use permit that would allow its former office (in a house to the east of the church on Main Street) to be used as a residence.

A special-use permit requested by Hugo and Doris Martinez to install a carport on their property at 415 N. Nelson and along McKee Drive was denied by the commission because the location for the carport was too close to the property line on McKee Drive.

Sketch plans and a preliminary plat for the Williams Family Revocable Trust were approved with conditions that the location of a gas line be added and certain phone numbers be included.

Also approved was a final plat for the Sunset Ridge subdivision and a lot split for Cletus Dalla Rosa. Tabled was a lot-line adjustment for the First Assembly of God in Gentry until a sewer line easement is complete.

The commission plans to review options for a rezone of properties between McKee Drive on the north and Arkansas Street on the south, and Railroad Ave. on the east and Collins Ave. on the west.

James Furgason, speaking for homeowners in the area, suggested a possible H-1 historical district that includes all the requirements of R-1 residential zoning but allows for narrower lot widths to accommodate the numerous narrow lots in the above-mentioned area of Gentry.

The city council, at its Nov. 2 meeting, held off on a rezoning ordinance to change the zoning of properties north of Arkansas Street and south of McKee Drive between N. Collins and N. Railroad avenues to R-1 (allowing only single-family residential homes) but passed a 180-day moratorium on new building permits within the area (effective on Dec. 2) for anything but R-1 construction to allow time for the planning and zoning commission and the council to come up with a zoning plan to keep the area an area for single-family homes.

The reason for the moratorium instead of the rezoning ordinance proposed by the planning commission is that numerous properties within the area are on lots narrower than R-1 zoning allows. Passage of the ordinance would have restricted property owners from making major improvements or from rebuilding single-family housing units on those properties. The 180 days is to allow time for the city to come up with a zoning ordinance that will preserve the area for single-family housing but not restrict lot owners from building homes on vacant lots or prevent major remodeling or renovation projects to existing homes.

The matter of rezoning the area from R-3 (which allows multifamily units) and RO (which allows for residential and office use) was brought before the planning commission and council by a petition signed by 65 residents of the affected area following the start of a four-plex housing unit in the area. The group initially asked that the area be changed to R-2 but agreed that R-1 would be better (except for the lot-size restrictions).

James Furgason and Barry Jarnagan, property owners in the affected area, addressed the council saying they were OK with the moratorium as long as a zoning change followed in a timely manner to preserve the historic district for single-family housing and prevent it from becoming an area where historic homes were torn down and replaced with multi-family rental units.