Board of Aldermen approves rezoning for property at Second Creek Bridge Road and Lohman Road

The Smithville Board of Aldermen approved Bill 3054-25 to reclassify land at the northeast corner of Second Creek Bridge Road and Lohman Road to the AR (agricultural/residential) zoning district.

The rezoning motion was introduced by Alderman Autumn Atkins and carried on a 4-1 roll call vote (Aldermen Hartman, Kabilski, Atkins and Shipley voted yes; Alderman Russell voted no). Alderman Atkins moved the bill; no second was recorded on the transcript.

The change matters because the AR district allows deeper, longer lots than the city's R-1B single-family district, which staff said is necessary to create the 10-acre lot configurations the applicant requested. Jack, a city staff member involved in planning, told the aldermen that in the R-1B district frontage-to-depth limits make the 10-acre layout infeasible: “These are 1,300 feet and maybe have 300. It they won't work as 10 acre lots unless it's outside of the R designations.”

A resident who identified herself at the podium during public comment, Miss Lehi, urged the board to limit the approved zoning to single-family residential uses. She said neighbors support 10-acre single-family lots but oppose other uses: “I am not in favor of being rezoned… If we're gonna do single family homes there, that would be perfect. But with an AR, you can do conditional usage.” She also said she understood plans discussed by neighbors could include “a 10 bedroom… bed and breakfast” and called that commercial rather than single-family housing.

Jack and other staff clarified procedural limits and next steps. He said uses that are not permitted by right would require a conditional use permit, which must be approved by the planning commission and the board: “If it was going to be as Miss Lohman described, it would have to go through the planning commission to get a conditional use permit.” The transcript also records a reference to state law limiting some municipal authority over home-based businesses: “Cities have lost a lot of authority over home based business… Cities cannot require home based businesses to have a business license either per state statute.”

The applicant had asked that, if the rezoning passes tonight, the item not be put on next week's agenda so the applicant could evaluate other aspects before proceeding. The board carried the rezoning motion and the clerk read the ordinance language into the record as an ordinance changing zoning classifications for certain lands in Smithville.

No amendment restricting future uses to single-family residences was adopted during the recorded proceedings, and the transcript contains no formal conditional-use approval tied to this rezoning. The board vote approved the rezoning only; any specific nonresidential uses remain subject to the conditional-use and permitting processes described by staff.

The transcript shows the rezoning discussion and vote took place during the regular meeting; the applicant and neighbors spoke from the public comment and staff report portions of that agenda item.