The Montgomery City Planning Commission voted 7-2 to recommend lifting a use restriction placed on a B-3–zoned parcel at 1740 Ray Thornton Road, allowing the property to be used for any purpose permitted in B-3 zoning.

The change matters because the restriction — written when the parcel was rezoned in 2003 — limited the lot to a veterinary clinic or office use, and the current owners and their representatives said that limitation has made the site effectively unsellable. With the restriction removed, the owners said, conventional retail tenants are now possible.

Mark Davis of Ball Ball Matthews Novak, representing CH Vets/Carriage Hills Vet Clinic owners, described the property’s history and argued the restriction no longer matches market conditions. “If you don't lift these restrictions, you're basically saying it can only be used for these very limited purposes, which the market has told us nobody wants it for,” Davis said. He told commissioners the parcel was purchased in 2000, has changed hands among veterinarians, and has been on the market for seven to eight years with no takers for the limited uses.

Chandler Hunt of Berry Engineers briefly introduced the owners’ team; other representatives on the record included Dr. Van Hooser and Ann Allen Salter, identified as partners with the ownership group. Several proponents said retail at that location would serve the nearby ballpark and school and provide convenience for residents.

Karen Cochran, president of the Foxwood Homeowners Association, asked that the commission postpone action and hold a community meeting before a vote. “There hasn't been any community notice that I've been aware of,” Cochran said, and she said signage and notice at the site were difficult to see. She urged commissioners not to approve the request the same night without more community outreach.

Commissioners also heard that the planning department had placed an objection in the file because the parcel had conditions attached when rezoned previously; planning staff said the site does not appear to be environmentally constrained and that the department’s formal objection reflected uncertainty about historical restriction language, not a present environmental hazard.

After discussion, a motion to recommend lifting the restriction passed on a 7-2 vote. The commission recorded the tally as seven in favor and two opposed; the transcript does not record which individual commissioners cast the two opposing votes.

Next steps: the recommendation will go to the City Council (or other authorizing body) for final action on the ordinance amendment. The commission’s recommendation is advisory; any final change to Ordinance 13-2003 will be made through the city’s formal legislative process.

Details and context: the property is under or adjacent to the Carriage Hills area on Ray Thornton Road and was rezoned to B-3 in 2003 with the stated limitation. Attorneys and engineers for the owners said the site sits between a ballpark and a power substation and is not immediately adjacent to single‑family neighborhoods; opponents said the site sits near a school and nearby subdivisions and asked for more neighborhood outreach.

The applicants characterized the likely retail user in general terms as a convenience‑oriented store offering essential grocery items and short‑trip shopping; they did not identify a specific tenant during the hearing.

Speakers listed in the transcript for this agenda item indicated the commission considered community input and legal interpretations of the 2003 restriction before forwarding the recommendation.