Council discusses rezoning request for 738 East Main Street from residential to general commercial

Easly City councilors reviewed the second reading of Ordinance 202415, a rezoning request for approximately 0.815 acres at 738 East Main Street (the parcel adjacent to South D Street) to change the zoning from residential (R-7.5/R10 referenced in discussion) to General Commercial (GC).

Staff and councilors discussed map discrepancies (parcel address labels in Pickens County GIS showed a different address), the planning commission recommendation and neighboring land uses. Councilors noted the planning commission voted 4–1 in favor of GC; one planning commissioner abstained and favored keeping the property residential. Councilors asked staff whether the applicant had provided a specific proposed use; staff said no specific end use had been stated in the application.

Several councilors raised neighborhood concerns: nearby residences, existing traffic on South D Street, and the potential for commercial activity to increase lighting, signage and vehicle movements. Staff said zoning controls and site-level conditions can mitigate traffic and lighting impacts (for example, requiring the primary entrance on East Main rather than South D and specifying buffers along the southern property line). Staff also noted the site’s small size (about 0.815 acre) and surrounding corridor of mixed uses and commercial parcels, and that the city could require a lighting plan as part of development review.

Councilors suggested the option of a middle-ground rezoning to Neighborhood Commercial if they wanted a use category with more constraints on scale and intensity; staff said neighborhood commercial and general commercial have overlapping uses but differ in permitted scale and some dimensional standards. No formal vote was recorded in the work session; staff said the ordinances will be on the business meeting agenda for final action.