Waynesville council rezones 185–187 West Marshall Street to align zoning with long‑standing storage use

The Town of Waynesville Town Council voted June 10 to rezone the southern parcel at 185–187 West Marshall Street from Walnut Street Neighborhood Residential Mixed‑Use Overlay to the Russ Avenue Regional Center designation, bringing two adjacent parcels owned by the same business into a single zoning category.

Staff said the applicant operates a self‑storage facility on two contiguous parcels: a smaller northern parcel already zoned for regional center commercial (about 0.59 acre) and a larger southern parcel (about 3.25 acres) zoned under the Walnut Street neighborhood residential overlay. Olga, the town’s development services director, told the council that the facility has operated as mini‑warehouses for roughly 40 years and that the rezoning would remove a nonconforming status that limits improvements such as lighting and reconfiguration.

The request was a legislative map amendment recommended by the planning board. Olga said staff and the planning board recommended approval because the property is adjacent to the existing regional center zoning, mixed‑use development and a railroad corridor, and rezoning would create a consistent zoning designation for both parcels. She also told council that many potentially intense commercial uses would remain subject to special‑use review or additional standards; for example, major renovations would require planning‑board review and certain uses would trigger special‑use permit criteria such as compatibility, setbacks and buffering.

Opponents at the hearing urged caution because the southern parcel sits adjacent to a town park. Mitsy Simmons, who said she lives next to the storage facility, opposed rezoning and described the park as “a treasure,” arguing that up‑zoning would risk opening the site to more intense, commercial uses and “give up stewardship” of the park. Residents and council members asked staff whether rezoning would allow by‑right uses such as bars, gas stations or auto repair and how floodplain limits would affect new construction. Staff and planning staff member Jesse said the site includes flood‑plain areas that affect building options and that some intense uses would be subject to additional standards or special‑use review; staff also noted many commercial uses are already allowed on the site’s northern parcel.

An unnamed facility manager who spoke for the applicant told the council there remains local demand for storage and that converting the site to other commercial uses would be costly and unlikely.

Council discussion focused on tradeoffs between allowing the existing business to upgrade and the long‑term implications of applying the town’s most intensive mixed‑use zoning adjacent to a family‑oriented park. A councilmember asked whether a future purchaser could replace storage with a more intrusive use; staff replied that certain uses would still require additional review and that floodplain and site constraints would limit some new construction.

The council voted to find the rezoning consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan and then to adopt the map amendment as presented, which will also change the future‑land‑use designation for the southern parcel to match the northern parcel. The motion to adopt was made on the council floor and approved by the council; the meeting record does not list a roll‑call vote count.

What changed and what stays the same: rezoning will remove the southern parcel’s nonconforming status and allow the owner greater flexibility to upgrade the existing self‑storage use, but several potentially intrusive uses remain subject to planning review and special‑use requirements. Staff said major renovations that increase impervious surface or reduce setbacks by specified thresholds would still require planning‑board review.

The rezoning had been noticed to adjacent property owners and published in the Mountaineer; the planning board recommended approval by a 4–2 vote. The council’s adoption amends both the zoning map and the town’s future‑land‑use map.

Looking ahead: councilmembers and residents said they will watch future applications closely because rezoning to a regional center classification increases the range of allowed commercial uses, even if many of those uses trigger additional standards or special‑use review. Staff said any major renovation or new construction would return for planning‑board and, if required, special‑use review before permits are issued.