Commission denies rezoning for Heatherwood parcel after neighbors cite short‑term rental listing

Franklin County commissioners denied a request by property owner Stephanie Loper to rezone Parcel D in Heatherwood Subdivision from R‑1 (single‑family residential) to A (agricultural) during the March 15 meeting.

The rezoning drew sustained public comment. Several residents, including Heatherwood HOA president Liz Nelson and resident Lola Eslick, told commissioners they were concerned the change would allow uses incompatible with the subdivision’s 1986 residential plat and restrictive covenants, including animal husbandry, mobile homes and short‑term camping. Nelson said she found an online listing for the property on hipcamp.com advertising three RV sites with power and limited sewage; she and other neighbors said the listing suggested the owner intended to operate a commercial campsite that would “violate the initial intent” of the neighborhood.

The property owner, Stephanie Loper, and her attorney Jerre Hood countered that the parcel had a long history of agricultural use and that the owner intended to make the zoning consistent with historical use. Loper told the planning commission and later the county commission she had removed the online listing. “I shut it down, I took it off hipcamp, I deleted the Facebook page...we can’t have it, so I shut it down,” Loper said during public comment. She said the family had created a couple of RV pads for visiting relatives, not to run a commercial campground.

Planning staff and the Franklin County Regional Planning Commission had recommended denial of Loper’s request to rezone the Heatherwood parcel. The staff report and the commission’s January meeting record indicate the property was rezoned to R‑1 in 1986 following an earlier adoption of agricultural zoning in 1974; staff said the subdivision owners have an “expectation of zoning protection” for continued residential use and that rezoning would allow materially different uses from the surrounding lots.

After public comment and commission discussion, the board denied the rezoning. The clerk’s minutes record a motion to deny (mover Sheriff Tim Fuller; second Scottie Riddle) and the vote as “denied — all ayes” (16‑0).

Neighbors who opposed the rezoning said their primary fears were increased traffic, possible commercial camping and impacts on property values. Loper said she understood the concerns and reiterated she had removed the online listing when advised it was inconsistent with zoning; she also said she wanted to be able to keep a small number of farm animals on the parcel.

The county’s planning director Janet Petrunich told the planning board and the commission that private restrictive covenants are separate from public zoning; regardless of covenants, the county’s R‑1 zoning restricts certain agricultural and mobile uses. The commission’s vote preserves the parcel’s R‑1 status and denies the requested change to agricultural zoning.

The denial leaves the owner with the same zoning restrictions that applied when the Heatherwood subdivision plat was recorded in 1986. Any future proposals to change uses on the parcel would require another formal rezoning application and public hearing.