The City Council approved a rezoning request Sept. 4 that Sycamore Storage LLC said was needed so existing and expanding storage units match the city's zoning map.
Jeff Lewellen, attorney for the petitioner, told the council the storage units at 3250 and 3450 Locust Street have operated for years and that the petition seeks to rezone Lot 1 and half of Lot 2 in Doty Industrial Park Phase 6 from M-2 heavy industrial to C-5 (commercial) to reflect and permit the current use and planned expansion. "The reason this came to head was because Sycamore Storage intended to expand their facility a little bit. And in doing that, when inspections came out, it was determined that the property wasn't actually zoned in the classification that it should be for this use," Lewellen said.
Council members said they viewed the change as an ordinance cleanup rather than a change to neighborhood character. The council took action and approved special ordinance 36-20-25 by voice vote; proponents said the rezoning will put the property into a zoning class that fits the existing use and allow pending expansion work to proceed.
The petitioner said the rezoning process caused a multi-month delay in planned construction; the council approved the rezoning to remove that regulatory impediment. The council did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript; the motion to take action and the motion to approve passed by voice vote.