Planning Commission backs rezoning for 8229 Highway 70 to mirror highway-business zoning

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend rezoning 5.089 acres at 8229 Highway 70 from CL Neighborhood Commercial to CH Highway Business zoning. The recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen for final action.

Sam, planning staff, told commissioners the applicant — represented at the meeting by Trevor Cropp — seeks the change for the 5.089-acre JTB Subdivision “to rezone 5.089 acres of land from CL Neighborhood Commercial to CH Highway Business Zoning District.” The property includes the existing Birches Automotive on Lot 1 (2.124 acres), an office for Traditional Plumbing on Lot 2 (0.591 acres), and a vacant Lot 3 (2.374 acres). Sam said the parcel’s historic use for auto repair predates annexation by the city of Bartlett and therefore is a preexisting nonconforming use under current zoning.

The rezoning request is intended to mirror the CH zoning already in place across Highway 70 and to reflect preexisting commercial uses the parcel had while in Shelby County. Sam said staff recommends a favorable recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen “for approval, with conditions listed in the staff report.” The staff report and conditions will be addressed again on the forthcoming final plan for the JTB subdivision, which staff said will be filed separately and come before the commission soon.

When Commissioner David Hunt asked what would happen if the current automotive business closed, Sam said the nonconforming use would lapse only after an extended vacancy: “that business would have to be out of business for 30 months, for that pre existing use to go away.” No members of the public spoke in opposition or in favor during the public hearing; the commission allowed the full public-hearing period and recorded no correspondence on the item.

An unidentified commissioner moved to approve staff’s recommendation and another seconded. On a roll call, the commission recorded the following votes in favor: Greg Easton, Paul Kaiser, David Hunt, Jim Lamb, Ken Dimitrio, Jack Young and John Conroy. The motion carried unanimously. The commission’s favorable recommendation now goes to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen; staff and the applicant confirmed a final plan will follow in the coming days.

The commission did not adopt the final site plan or amend the subdivision conditions at the meeting; those details will be resolved in the forthcoming final-plan review and the Board of Mayor and Aldermen’s consideration of the rezoning.