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Decatur City staff backs rezoning of 12.43-acre Pisco Road parcel; neighbor objects to notice
Summary
Planning staff recommended rezoning 12.43 acres at 1319 Pisco Road SE (case 1444-26) from community commercial to single-family estate so the applicant can secure a mortgage; a nearby resident said the special-called meeting lacked adequate public notice. A motion to approve was made; no vote is recorded in the transcript.
At a special-called Decatur City meeting, planning staff presented rezoning case 1444-26: 12.43 acres at 1319 Pisco Road SE, currently zoned community commercial, proposed to be rezoned to residential single-family estate. Staff said any utility relocations would be at the owner’s expense and recommended approval from a planning standpoint.
The applicant, Dylan Pate, told the meeting he had previously obtained a variance and built a house on the parcel but is running into trouble securing a mortgage because, he said, "the variance isn't necessarily transferable" and lenders are requiring that the lot be zoned residential. Pate said he completed construction "about a month and a half ago" and asked that the front acreage along Highway 31 remain commercial to preserve development potential there.
Resident Mike Faruqi, identifying himself as a Decatur resident, challenged the meeting's notice and timing. "This does not exist on the website for the city," he said, and asked whether the 500-foot notification requirement would have reached surrounding households. Faruqi warned that rezoning 12.43 acres could enable multiple homes and produce traffic impacts near Highway 31 and Pisgah/Pisco Road, urging broader public visibility of the proposal.
Staff responded that notices were sent and that public-notice procedures for rezoning are "a requirement by law." One staff member said, "We did not," when asked whether any notices had generated responses; later the group said notices are sent to the newspaper for advertisement and discussed whether special-called meetings are posted on the city website.
Speakers also outlined the permitting path if subdivision or greater development were proposed: a plat and multiple reviews would be required, including a DOT traffic study and potential turnout or deceleration/acceleration lanes on Highway 31, which speakers said can be costly and constrain development.
A motion to approve the rezoning was introduced (the transcript includes the line "Motion by mister Terry"). The transcript provided ends after the roll-call prompt and does not include a recorded vote tally or final outcome.
Next procedural steps are not specified in the provided transcript; the record shows discussion, a motion to approve, and the roll call being requested without a documented vote.
