Planning commission recommends rezoning of 3418 Indian Hills Road over resident objections

The City of Decatur Planning Commission voted 4–3 on Feb. 17 to recommend the rezoning of 3.24 acres at 3418 Indian Hills Road from RSF-10 (residential single-family) to community commercial, forwarding the item to the City Council for final action.

Neighbors and written commenters urged the commission to deny the request, saying the parcel has been residential for decades and that commercial uses would worsen existing flooding and traffic problems. "We contribute to the community," said Robert Cooley, who lives on 3318 Indian Hills Road and argued the area floods in heavy rain and lacks safe access from Indian Hills Road. Diana Molina, in a written comment read by staff, expressed concern about loss of wooded habitat for deer and other wildlife.

Planning staff said no specific site plan has been proposed, so the request is only to change the zoning to allow commercial uses. "There will have to be a buffer because it's adjacent to residential property," staff said, describing the ordinance options (wider planted buffer, berm with plantings, or an opaque 6-foot fence with vegetation) and noting that any future site plan will return to the development review process for landscape and drainage review.

Staff and the applicant also discussed access and state review. Richard Humphrey, representing applicant Pew Wright McAnally, confirmed the property owner seeks the "highest and best use" consistent with the city's comprehensive plan but that driveway location and permitted access will be reviewed by the Alabama Department of Transportation when a developer files a site plan. Staff told the commission that DOT restrictions can require minimum throat distances (roughly 200–300 feet, depending on trip generation) from Highway 67 before full access is allowed.

Commissioners took public testimony from multiple neighbors and read letters from additional residents. After discussion a motion to recommend rezoning (moved by a commissioner identified in the meeting as Mr. Kimpel and seconded by Mr. Pike) passed 4–3; the commission did not record individual commissioner votes by name in the available transcript. The City Council will receive the commission's recommendation and consider the rezoning request at a future meeting.

What happens next: If a developer files a site plan, it must include stormwater calculations, buffering measures and proposed access; DOT will review access for compliance with state standards. The commission's recommendation does not itself change zoning until the City Council acts.