Clyde council rejects rezoning for Garza yard after heated debate and executive session

Clyde City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, rejected Ordinance 2025‑12, a proposal to rezone part of Outlot 113 (listed in the packet as 837 East McPherson Highway) from C‑2 General Commercial to I‑1 General Industrial, after more than an hour of public discussion, proposed amendments and a short executive session for legal advice.

The tally on the motion to adopt the ordinance as presented was 2 in favor (Vice Mayor Scott Black and Councilman Greg McMaster) and 3 opposed (Councilman Chris Shea, Councilwoman Meek, and Mayor McAuley); the motion failed. A later motion to instead accept the Planning Commission’s original recommendation also failed, leaving the rezoning unresolved.

Why this matters

The rezoning would have formalized an industrial classification for an existing wood‑recycling operation run by Waylon Garza and would have governed operating details that neighbors and the council have contested. Council members and city officials debated pile size limits, 25‑foot fire access lanes, a living fence for visual screening, hours of operation, ownership restrictions and deadlines for EPA licensing and fire‑lane passability. Those conditions were central to whether the council would approve the zoning change with extra requirements or allow the Planning Commission’s recommendation to stand.

What the council debated

Council discussion focused on four categories of conditions that councilors and city staff said were needed to make the site lawful and enforceable: pile sizes for raw material, fire access roads and lane width, visual screening on the eastern property line, and deadlines for environmental and safety approvals. City solicitor Justin Leben (identified in the meeting as the city’s legal official) advised the council about how local code treats actions that…