Planning commission recommends C1 zoning for Highway 41A North parcel, forwards to County Commission

The Bedford County Planning Commission voted to recommend a rezoning application for a property near the Highway 270 and Highway 41A North intersection to the County Commission.

Applicants identified during the meeting asked for a C1 zoning classification for the parcel; the planning presenter summarized that the same parcel had sought C2 zoning at an earlier hearing and had been turned down. The presenter said staff had reviewed the application and "staff has no objections to it." A motion for a favorable recommendation to the County Commission was made and seconded and carried.

Under the county's process a favorable recommendation from the Planning Commission advances the application to the Rules and Legislative Committee, which will consider it at a public meeting in this building; the County Commission then will hold a public hearing on the matter, at which the applicants are expected to appear and comment. The presenter advised applicants to arrive 30 minutes early for the County Commission public hearing.

The applicants' conceptual PUD elements discussed in the meeting included a farm-to-table restaurant, an equestrian community with barns and paddocks, walking trails, and a public playground; the presenter said roughly 270 of the project's more than 500 total acres lie inside Bedford County and noted nearby commercial uses including a Dollar General. The meeting record shows the commission moved and seconded a motion recommending the rezoning to the County Commission; no final zoning change was made at the Planning Commission level.

What happens next: the County Commission is the legislative body that alone may change zoning; the Planning Commission's recommendation and the application will be scheduled before the Rules and Legislative Committee and then the full County Commission for public hearings and final action.