Jefferson County planning panel deadlocks on rezoning for Bear’s Nursery site; project heads to county council

The Jefferson County Planning and Zoning Commission on a tied vote sent a rezoning and development-plan request for the former Bear’s Nursery site to the County Council after extended staff presentations, developer testimony and public objections.

In a staff presentation, Mitch Barnard, Planning Division staff, said the petition PR2250005 asks to rezone roughly 8.93 acres from Planned Commercial (PC2) to Planned Residential (PR2) and to approve a development plan for five buildings containing 156 apartment units. Barnard described the site as composed of three parcels that will be combined into one, bounded by Rock Creek to the north and Interstate 55 to the west, and said the development would be removed from the mapped floodplain through a FEMA Letter of Map Amendment (LOMAR) process.

The request would cap the project at 156 units (about 17.5 dwelling units per acre), provide 324 parking spaces (about 2.08 spaces per unit), and include amenities such as a pool, walking trail, fitness center, playground and dog area. Barnard said staff recommends approval with the conditions outlined in the staff report, including final site plan submittal, land-disturbance permitting, specific building-material standards (prohibiting corrugated steel and untextured concrete block as primary materials), a raised Old State Road profile to one foot above base flood elevation, and landscape and screening requirements.

Why it matters: The project would locate medium-density housing adjacent to a stream corridor and a major highway in a portion of Jefferson County where residents and nearby businesses said flooding, utility relocation and proximity to train tracks raise safety and infrastructure concerns.

Staff and applicant details Barnard said the earlier 2023 approval that rezoned the property to PC2 allowed a small office and…