On Dec. 2 the Carroll County Board of Commissioners rejected a request to rezone 20 Fairfield Road from residential to commercial, concluding the application lacked specificity about the future use and raised community concerns.

Attorney Tripp Sewell, representing West Street Capital Partners, said his clients purchased the property in December 2023 and that the parcel had previously operated as a commercial daycare center. “My clients are simply asking that the property be zoned up to its current use, that being commercial,” Sewell said, noting the property had been taxed and used as a commercial site for years.

Nearby resident Grady Hamilton, who said his family formerly owned the property, told the board he feared increased traffic, inadequate sight distance for some road approaches and the potential for contamination of a nearby drinking-water lake. “We have a lake, also, which is drinking water for us,” Hamilton said, and he cited past leaks and several traffic crashes along Fairfield Road as reasons to oppose a broad commercial rezoning.

Community Development Director Ben Skipper and other staff explained the zoning issue: while the daycare has operated under a conditional permit and is treated as a commercial use for taxation, rezoning the parcel to a generic commercial designation would allow any commercial use permitted in that zoning class, which could introduce new impacts such as additional traffic or utilities demand. Staff and the planning commission recommended denial because the application listed an “undetermined use,” providing insufficient information for a focused review.

Commissioners said the absence of a defined plan made it difficult for staff and the public to assess impacts. A motion to deny passed 7-0.

What happens next: The property remains eligible to operate as the existing conditional daycare; rezoning could be reconsidered if and when a specific, detailed proposal is submitted.