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Planning commission unanimously recommends denial of proposed light‑industrial expansion on Chatham Drive
Summary
Commissioners recommended denial of Abbas Al Sayedee’s rezoning request to change portions of two parcels on Chatham Drive from R80 to R40 and LI after neighbors cited ongoing code‑compliance problems, topographic constraints for a required deceleration lane, heavy truck activity, and environmental and safety concerns.
The Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended denial of a rezoning application by Abbas Al Sayedee that would change approximately 1.874 acres from R80 to R40 and 5.106 acres from R80 to light industrial on Chatton (Chatham) Drive, and requested an exceptional variance to avoid building a deceleration lane.
Staff said the site lies in the rural places character area and is adjacent to county workplace center uses and an existing industrial park, but also noted natural constraints including streams with 75‑foot buffers and a requirement for a 50‑foot buffer adjacent to residentially zoned property. Staff recommended conditions if approved, including that loading and unloading occur on‑site, that parking and storage areas be screened with a minimum six‑foot wooden privacy fence, and that auto sales, parts sales and salvage operations be prohibited.
Neighbors and many commissioners opposed the rezoning. Speakers living on Stony Hill Lane and Chatham Drive said the applicant’s existing operations appeared to them like a salvage yard, that delivery trucks and car carriers have previously blocked the public right of way, and that the owner had not always complied promptly with county requirements. Several residents said Chatham Drive is a narrow, largely gravel dead‑end road and that topography makes constructing a deceleration lane impractical; they argued the rezoning would allow intensified industrial activity on a road unsuited to the traffic and truck movements it would generate.
The applicant and his attorney said the rezoning would allow existing operations to be relocated on the applicant’s adjoining parcels and would provide room for loading, reduce off‑right‑of‑way loading/unloading and allow a more orderly layout. The attorney also argued the requested change would function as a transitional zoning between existing County LI uses farther south (county facilities and an industrial park) and the rural residential area to the north.
Commissioners who opposed the application said the site currently looked like a salvage yard on site visits, the road and topography were inadequate for additional industrial traffic, and granting an LI zoning could encourage further encroachment of industrial uses into rural places. A motion to recommend denial passed unanimously.
Staff and neighbors asked that any future applications include detailed grading, stormwater and road‑improvement plans; the commission recorded its recommendation for denial and will forward the record to the County Commission.
