The Middletown Planning Commission voted Wednesday to forward a map amendment to City Council to rezone the remaining portion of 3409–3413 Vanessa Avenue from R‑3 (medium‑density residential) to B‑1 (neighborhood business).
City planning staff said the five parcels at 3409–3413 Vanessa Avenue total just over three‑quarters of an acre and currently contain one continuous building that county records show was last transferred in 2013. Staff reported the structure has long functioned with commercial uses that are more consistent with B‑1 standards than the R‑3 district’s stated purpose.
Philip Stokes, representing property owner Endicott, Inc., told the commission the building has been used for business purposes for decades. “It’s been used as a B1 building since for at least 60 years,” Stokes said during the public hearing, urging the city to align zoning with the long‑standing use.
Councilman Paul Horn, speaking in favor, added that the site historically housed a grocery and that rezoning could help address local access to food. “That area, by definition, would be what they call a food desert,” Horn said, urging that proper commercial zoning could entice a grocer or other neighborhood services.
Staff noted one technical discrepancy: the city’s future land‑use map lists the parcel as single‑family, so the rezoning would depart from that designation. The property is also within the Northern Bridal development opportunity area on the comprehensive plan’s development opportunity map; staff said that area had been discussed previously by the commission.
No members of the public spoke in opposition. The Commission moved and seconded the recommendation and recorded unanimous “yes” votes from Will Parsons, AJ Mentel, Gabe Gabriel Schanlein, Nancy Griffith, Roger Daniel and Tara Ramsey. The commission’s action forwards the map amendment to City Council, which must act before the rezoning takes effect.
Staff and the applicant said no other department comments or public comments had been received as of the staff report; any department findings would be included in the materials transmitted to City Council.