Mount Holly City Council voted Aug. 11 to rezone two downtown parcels owned by First Presbyterian Church from RD Residential Downtown to B-1 Central Business, the council announced after a public hearing process.

Planning staff said the church owns parcels 123794 and 123804 for roughly 60 years and that the parcels total about 0.67 acres, comprising a lower parking lot and a storage building. Staff described the rezoning as consistent with the downtown core land-use plan and said the parcels would be governed by the city's downtown development manual, adopted in 2005, and the table of permitted and special uses in chapter 6 of the zoning ordinance. The planning commission recommended unanimous approval at its meeting Monday night.

"They have bought the B 1 Central Business District, so it would not be a spot zoning," planning staff Mr. Beal said, explaining the rezoning fits the downtown expansion shown in the land-use plan. No specific development plans were presented, and staff noted that a general rezoning application does not require the applicant to disclose development plans.

After the public hearing produced no speakers, Councilmember Meadows moved to approve the rezoning; Councilmember Harris seconded. The motion passed unanimously.

The record does not include a development proposal for the site. Council and planning staff said any future development would be subject to the downtown development manual's design standards and the zoning ordinance's list of permitted and special uses.