Applicant withdraws rezoning request for 9th Avenue South site; committee sends item to public hearing without recommendation

The Planning and Development Committee was informed Aug. 4 that applicant Mike Moran has withdrawn his rezoning application for the western portion of the property listed in the meeting record as 183320 Ninth Avenue South, and the committee voted 5-0 to send the item to the advertised public hearing without a recommendation. The committee also approved minutes from its previous meeting by the same margin.

The matter on the agenda would have considered rezoning the western portion of the site from I-2 to C-4. The planning commission had previously voted 6-0 to recommend approval. The mayor told the committee he had been contacted by Mike Moran, who asked to withdraw the proposal and the related contract, citing what the mayor described as repeated attacks on Moran’s integrity.

"I've been contacted by Mr. Moran and he has asked to withdraw his proposal, and the contract," the mayor said. "He noted that he no longer wanted to pursue it and try to continue to answer frivolous and very quickly dismissed lawsuits, and other comments and attacks that have been made on his integrity and others' integrity. And he — that wasn't worth it to him." The mayor added that he was sorry to see the project go and expressed hope that a future council could find a solution for the property.

Committee members moved to "send it out without recommendation pending the public hearing." Councilor Sims made the motion; a second was recorded for Councilor Gullen. The vote passed 5-0. Earlier in the meeting the committee voted 5-0 to approve the minutes; a motion to read and approve the prior meeting minutes was moved and seconded and recorded as passing by the same 5-0 tally.

The record includes two references to scheduled public hearings: one noting a hearing set for Aug. 25, 2025, at 6 p.m., and another reference indicating a hearing set for Aug. 11 at 6 p.m. The committee chair said the item could not be removed from the advertised hearing schedule and therefore should be sent forward without recommendation so the public hearing could be held as advertised.

No formal council action on the rezoning occurred at the Aug. 4 committee meeting because the applicant withdrew the proposal and the committee’s action was procedural: forwarding the item to the advertised public hearing without recommendation. The planning commission’s 6-0 favorable recommendation was recorded in the meeting minutes but, per the mayor’s statement, the applicant chose to stop pursuing the project.

Next steps listed in the meeting record are that the item remain on the advertised public hearing docket and be considered at that hearing; the transcript does not record any further staff reports, conditions, funding, or revised proposals related to the site.