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Person County commissioners deny rezoning request for small Leesburg Road commercial lot
Summary
The Person County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on July 21 to deny a request to rezone a 0.8-acre parcel on Leesburg Road from residential to B-1 (highway commercial). Neighbors raised concerns about traffic, spills and lack of water and sewer; the applicant said he planned an auto repair and sales business.
The Person County Board of Commissioners on July 21 rejected a rezoning request for a 0.8-acre parcel at the Leesburg Road/DeLong Road intersection, voting 3-2 against changing the property’s zoning from residential to B-1 (highway commercial).
The petition, listed in the agenda as RZ-0125, sought to allow commercial uses at a site that has an existing storefront-style structure and has historically operated as a country store. Planning staff said the property is surrounded predominantly by residential zoning and lacks access to municipal water and sewer.
Planning Director Margaret (last name not specified in the record) told commissioners the parcel is considered a nonconforming site because it contains a commercial structure on residentially zoned land. She said the planning board unanimously recommended denial and suggested the applicant pursue conditional zoning if he wants to limit permitted uses.
The applicant, identified in the record as Mr. Munoz, told the board he hopes to open a small business with his son—describing plans to repair and sell automobiles—and pledged to meet county codes and neighbors’ concerns.
Neighbors who spoke during the public hearing urged denial. Tommy Yarbrough, who said he lives on Leesburg Road, warned about soils that he described as clayey and expressed concern about petroleum and oil spills reaching nearby properties. Karen Long, who lives on DeLong Road, said several similar auto-service operations already operate along the corridor and said she was worried about property appearance, outdoor vehicle storage and lack of screening or spill controls if auto services occur outdoors.
One commissioner moved to approve the rezoning and argued the parcel’s historic commercial use and its location at a highway intersection supported commercial zoning. The chair said he disagreed and did not find the request consistent with the Person County–Roxboro joint comprehensive land use plan. On a subsequent hand-count vote, the motion failed; a clerk later recorded the outcome as 3-2 opposed.
The record notes the lack of municipal water and sewer, the small lot size (0.8 acres), and DOT right-of-way constraints as factors that limit redevelopment and potential future uses. Planning staff reiterated that B-1 zoning is a general-purpose commercial district with many permitted uses and that conditional zoning could be used to restrict specific activities.
With the denial, the parcel will remain in its current residential zoning designation. The applicant and county staff were advised of options including conditional zoning or a revised application that could include specific use restrictions.
The rezoning request was the subject of the public hearing portion of the July 21 meeting and concluded before the board returned to other agenda items.
