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Council annexes and rezones Webster Road acreage for industrial use; IDB conditional-use item postponed to July 8
Summary
The Auburn City Council annexed about 211.45 acres at 430 Lee Road 53 (Webster Road) and rezoned roughly 130.4 acres to industrial; a separate conditional-use request to allow a high-performance computing center on the site was postponed to July 8 at the applicant's request.
The Auburn City Council on June 3 voted to annex approximately 211.45 acres located at 430 Lee Road 53 (also known as Webster Road) into city limits and to rezone about 130.4 acres of that property from rural to industrial. Both actions followed unanimous Planning Commission recommendations and were presented at the meeting by Industrial Development Board representatives.
Council staff said the Industrial Development Board (IDB) acquired the property to provide scarce large parcels for future industrial or related uses; speakers noted that some parts of the tract may be held for nonindustrial uses or to serve as buffers adjacent to residential areas.
The annexation (Item 9B) and rezoning (Item 9C) were introduced and considered on first reading with unanimous consent; the council carried both measures in roll-call votes. During discussion councilors asked whether the IDB had identified specific users or customers for the acreage. An IDB representative, Mr. Dunlap, said the board had “some identified project that might occupy part of this” but that retaining flexibility for other future uses was intentional.
Separately, the Industrial Development Board sought conditional-use approval for a “high-performance computing center” at 430 Webster Road. The applicant requested a postponement of the conditional-use item to the July 8 meeting; the council voted to postpone the conditional-use hearing to that date. The Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the conditional-use request on May 8, but the applicant asked for more time before council action.
Council members said the city conducts absorption and cost-benefit analyses before industrial land development. Staff stated that the acreage offers rare opportunity to secure large contiguous parcels inside city limits and that the IDB is selective about permitted users. The annexation and rezoning move the property into the city’s regulatory and planning framework and enable the city to manage future development proposals, including the postponed conditional-use application.
