Clanton Council to consider multiple rezoning requests

Published 11:06 am Friday, June 11, 2021

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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Managing Editor

The Clanton City Council will consider five rezoning requests during its June 14 meeting.

Four will be first readings, two of these buildings are owned by the city.

A request to rezone 1000 Duren Road from M-1 Light Industrial to B-3 Neighborhood Business District will have its second reading. The plan is for the building to be used as a daycare.

Public hearings will be held prior to the vote for each of the rezoning requests that are being heard for the first time.

The requests were discussed during a work session held in the upstairs conference room at Clanton City Hall on June 10.

The first request would be to rezone 1001 Seventh St. S from M-1 Light Industrial to R-1-A Single Family Residential. The request was made by the property owners David and Donna McCary because they are selling the property.

“They have been waiting,” Mayor Jeff Mims said.

City Clerk Jonathan Seale explained there had been a delay because the required legal postings had not been completed in time for a previous vote.

Mims recommended that the City Council vote to suspend the rules on June 14, so the rezoning could be voted on in the same meeting as the first reading.

Bob Woods, chief of staff for the city, said the Clanton Planning Commission had voted to recommend the rezoning at its meeting.

The second rezoning for land not owned by the city is a request by F&P Land Development to change County Road 633, Pin. No. 9588 from M-R Municipal Reserve to R-G Residential Garden District.

The City Council will also consider rezoning two properties it owns — the Chilton County Arts Council building, 500 Fifth Ave. N, from R-2 Single Family/ Two Family Residential to Office Building District and 502 Fifth Ave. N from R-2 Single Family/ Two Family Residential District to O-1 Office Building District. Butterfly Bridge Children’s Advocacy Center is in negotiations with the city to lease or purchase 502 Fifth Ave. N.

Mims said the Clanton Planning Commission is recommending approval of the rezoning requests.

“We have had a little bit of opposition,” Mims said.

Mims said some in the neighborhood had concerns that Butterfly Bridge’s staff might be coming and going late at night, but he reassured them this would be rare.

Another 16 properties that the city owns will be considered for possible sale. During the June 14 meeting, the City Council will consider declaring 16 properties on a list from the Clanton Economic Development Board as surplus and move forward with accepting sealed bids for each of the properties.

Mims said money from the sales should be kept in a fund for potential land purchases that serve a better economic purpose for the city, such as a new municipal building.

The city is also working with Alabama Power to develop a strategic plan. Specific residents representing different areas of focus, such as education, safety, etc., have been invited to a discussion as a part of the plan. Woods pointed out that this would not be a fully comprehensive plan, but would be a plan for the next three to five years.

Also on the agenda for the June 14 meeting:

  • Amending the draft beer sale ordinance to have the first day of sales to be on a Monday, instead of a Sunday. If approved this would mean sales could start on Aug. 2. This change would require two readings, unless the Council unanimously votes to suspend the rules to allow it to be approved during the same meeting as the first reading of the ordinance change.
  • Leasing a Caterpillar323 Excavator.
  • Declaring a plot of land near the airport runway surplus and giving it to the Chilton County Airport Authority.
  • Considering membership in the Cahaba Solid Waste Disposal Authority and appointing Mims (or his appointee) to serve on the board. Mims explained this will give the city options it does not currently have.
  • Increasing the height allowances in the Central Business District and General Business District to 85 feet. Mims said this would help the city in possible future recruitment of hotels to the area.
  • Purchasing a Dakota multiuser restroom facility, which runs off a well, to be placed at Ollie Park. Mims said the current facilities have deteriorated, and he would like to use this model restroom for all park restrooms replaced in the future. The cost is expected to be $108,000.

The June 14 voting session will be held in the regular City Council meeting room at Clanton City Hall at 5 p.m.