The Forest Park Planning Commission voted Oct. 16 to recommend rezoning a 0.26-acre parcel at 4652 B Jonesboro Road from single-family residential (RS) to general commercial (GC).

Planning staff said the parcel (Parcel ID 13048 D A 017) is a rear lot accessed from Jonesboro Road and physically tied to an adjacent front commercial parcel. Although current city zoning maps from 2013, 2016, 2021 and 2024 consistently show the parcel as residential, staff found evidence that the site has long been used for commercial purposes and that the structure on the parcel predates modern zoning. Staff reported no official record that the parcel was ever rezoned to commercial and therefore recommended rezoning to match the parcel’s practical, long-standing use and to allow future redevelopment under commercial standards, subject to conditions addressing access, parking, buffering and stormwater management. Staff also noted that the future land use designation will be changed to commercial if the rezoning is approved.

Applicant Butch Springer told the commission that the structure had been used commercially for decades and that the building likely dates to the 1960s. "This building's been there since 60 something," Springer said, describing continuous commercial operation since the late 1970s. Springer said the parcel historically operated as driveline and automotive services for more than 40 years and that tax records had identified the site for commercial use.

Planning staff supported the rezoning on the basis that the parcel’s historic use, lack of independent street access from the residential side, and dependence on the front commercial lot for access make residential use impractical. Staff recommended conditions that limit the rezoning to the single parcel, require site-plan review and approval prior to any new development or occupancy, require landscape buffering between any commercial redevelopment and adjacent residences, and limit high-impact commercial uses that could require additional review.

A planning commission motion to approve RZ2025-03 with conditions carried; the commission recorded one abstention (name not specified in the hearing record). Staff noted the final decision rests with the City Council; the applicant was told the rezoning will be presented to council on Monday, Nov. 3 for final action.