Council sends proposed Commerce Center rezoning back to planning after residents oppose CP-3 request and stacked billboards

Summary

After more than an hour of resident testimony and council debate, Gardner's City Council remanded a developer's request to rezone roughly 51 acres near I-35 for a commerce center and four stacked billboards back to the Planning Commission for revisions that would limit heavy truck traffic and better match the city's community commercial land-use guidance.

The Gardner City Council remanded a multi-part application for the proposed 190 Ninth Street Commerce Center back to the Planning Commission with instructions to explore alternatives that better align with the city's community commercial land-use designation and reduce the potential for truck-intensive uses.

The application requested rezoning approximately 51 acres of a roughly 91-acre site from County Rural Residential (RUR) to CP-3 (planned heavy commercial), approval of a preliminary development plan for three buildings and three outdoor retail sales/storage lots, and a conditional use permit (CUP) for four principal-use sign structures (each 45 feet tall and vertically stacked with two faces per side).

Planning staff and the Planning Commission both recommended denial, saying the requested CP-3 zoning and proposed development intensity were inconsistent with the I-35 and Gardner Road subarea plan and would introduce origin-and-destination commercial truck traffic where the plan envisioned lower-intensity community commercial (CO or COA) uses. Staff…

Council sends proposed Commerce Center rezoning back to planning after residents oppose CP-3 request and stacked billboards

Summary

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