Commission approves rezoning of 1203 Sompkins Avenue to allow two single-family lots

The Florence City Planning Commission approved a request to rezone the parcel at 1203 Sompkins Avenue from campus zoning to NC 6.1, clearing the way for the owners to subdivide the lot into two single-family parcels.

Planning staff told the commission the parcel — originally zoned campus to serve a church on the site in the 1990s — later housed commercial uses including a laundromat and other nonresidential uses. Staff said the applicants plan to subdivide the lot and create two single-family lots roughly 5,800 square feet each, a layout staff described as consistent with surrounding NC 6.1 zoning.

Staff said the owners will need to pursue variances from the Board of Zoning Appeals for setback relief because the resulting lots would be slightly under the typical 6,000-square-foot lot size. No members of the public came forward to comment at the public hearing portion; staff recommended approval and the commission approved the rezoning by majority voice vote.

The staff presentation noted the parcel is located on Sompkins Avenue, off Oakland Avenue, and sits inside a small unzoned “donut hole” surrounded mostly by city zoning. Staff said returning the site to a residential zoning classification would bring it into alignment with adjacent properties that are already NC 6.1.

Because of the parcel’s dimensions the applicants will be required to apply to the Board of Zoning Appeals for variances on setbacks after rezoning; staff said that process was procedural and expected for similar subdivisions.

The motion to approve was moved and seconded; the commission recorded the motion as carried on the record. Specific roll-call tallies were not provided during the public record.