Temple planning commission recommends denial of rezoning request for former veterans community center site

The Temple Planning and Zoning Commission on May 19 voted to recommend denial of a rezoning request for roughly 16 acres at 1252 Connor Lane, a site in the Crossley Addition that includes a vacant building the community had used as a veterans center.

Senior Planner Shelby Smith told commissioners the application sought to change the property’s zoning from Planned Development Single-Family Attached 3 to Office 1 to allow office or similar uses; she said staff’s recommendation was approval of the rezoning. "So the staff recommendation is approval of the rezoning from planned development single family attached 3 to Office 1," Smith said during the presentation.

The request touched on a prior ordinance that identified the subject lot for a community center for veterans and on recorded deed restrictions that include a prohibition on commercial uses. During the public hearing, multiple speakers representing Veterans Outreach Ministry and neighborhood residents said volunteers and veterans built and ran the community center and urged the commission to preserve its intended use. "We were told that veterans getting into the…