Commissioners approve rezoning of Sunset Drive parcel from light industrial to residential-agricultural

The Lee County Board of Commissioners voted March 3 to rezone roughly one acre of adjoining parcels on Sunset Drive from light industrial to residential-agricultural to allow residential redevelopment of the site.

Planning staff told commissioners the site previously contained a house and an unpaved access road and that the configuration and private driveway make the location unsuitable for commercial redevelopment. Amy McNeil of Lee County Planning presented the Planning Board's recommendation and noted the Planning Board deemed the request not consistent with the county's long-range land-use designation (Maker District), but recommended approval because the site's access and historical development pattern supported residential use.

"The site does not front Hawkins Avenue. The roads in this area are basically wide gravel driveways that are maintained in the area by the property owners," McNeil said during the presentation.

The board first took the procedural step required when an amendment is inconsistent with the long-range plan: a motion acknowledging the inconsistency. Commissioners then voted to approve the rezoning as reasonable "given the location of the site on Sunset Drive within an older residential subdivision that was not fully developed." The vote was taken by voice; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

Planning staff said the site appears serviceable by public water and private septic and that the long-range plan is intended as a guide that may not capture all site-specific attributes. The board scheduled no additional conditions in the recorded motion.