The City of Prattville Planning Commission on Nov. 20, 2025 voted to recommend rezoning a 0.56‑acre parcel at 682 Covered Bridge Parkway from R‑5 patio‑home residential to O‑1 office district. The resolution recommending the change will be forwarded to the Prattville City Council for action.

Staff told commissioners that the lot is contiguous to existing O‑1 zoning and that the future land‑use map shows low‑density residential around it. Miss Smith, planning staff, read from the table of permitted uses and said O‑1 typically allows doctor’s offices, professional offices and performing‑arts studios. Staff also said a perimeter class‑A landscape buffer 10 feet wide would be required between O‑1 and adjacent R‑5, and estimated typical landscaping standards take up roughly 18–25% of a small commercial site.

Nearby residents opposed the change. Jim Slay, who lives on Sadie Circle, said he and other neighbors bought homes expecting an R‑5 residential district and expressed concern about parking, setbacks and the prospect of nonresidential uses encroaching into their neighborhood. The property owner, Chad Pickock, and the seller’s realtor, Sherry Phelps, said O‑1 better reflects the lot’s constraints (including a retention pond and prior covenants) and would make the property marketable.

Commissioners asked staff about potential parking impacts and learned that if a future business seeks to reduce on‑site parking it would need a variance before the Board of Zoning Adjustments; staff confirmed neighbors within 500 feet would be notified of any BZA application. Commissioners discussed options including asking the street committee to evaluate no‑on‑street‑parking signs for the area.

After discussion the commission voted in favor of the recommendation; the chair announced, "The resolution passed, and now it'll go before the council." The transcript does not show a roll‑call tally by name. The council will receive the commission’s recommendation and any future development proposals would be subject to site‑plan review and applicable buffer, parking and landscaping standards.