Commission tables rezoning near Country Club Road after concerns about industrial future land use

The Planning Commission voted to table a rezoning and replat request for property near Country Club Road and Southeast 3rd Avenue after a lengthy exchange about whether the site should remain available for heavy industrial uses.

Staff recommended approval of a replat and rezone to R-1 (single-family). A planning official summarized that future land use designates the strip as industrial and described active conversations with the state and ODOT about a possible multi-million-dollar industrial project that could add up to 350 jobs. The official said decisions about access and road realignment were under discussion but not yet finalized.

Echo Fite, speaking for the applicant, said she had contacted ODOT and was told the agency was "very firm" on set-back requirements and that "the infrastructure was not there for any kind of roads being built or industrial," which influenced the applicant's decision to pursue residential zoning. In public comment, Mark Maciti Miller, identified as "president here at Durand" in the transcript, said rezoning would reduce the parcel's attractiveness for industrial development and could create future conflicts between residential and heavy industrial neighbors.

A commissioner said the applicant should have an opportunity to weigh new information and recommended tabling the item; the motion to table passed with three votes in favor and one opposed. The commission emphasized that it is a recommending body and that City Council will make the final decision at its meeting next week.