Madison County Board rezones Rosewood Heights convenience store despite neighbor opposition

The Madison County Board on April 21 approved a zoning map amendment to reclassify a convenience-store parcel at 740 E. Airline Drive in Rosewood Heights from R-3 single-family residential to a tailored B-5 planned business district, a move opponents said could make it easier for the site to sell packaged liquor or later seek video gaming.

The measure, filed as Z21-0014, passed on a roll-call vote of 19 in favor and 9 opposed after more than an hour of discussion among board members, county zoning staff and legal counsel.

Mick Madison, chair of the Building & Zoning Committee, framed the change as a correction of a long-standing mismatch between the property’s use and its zoning and said the B-5 designation allows the board to write conditions specific to that parcel. “We wrote the B-5 Business District in a way to make it to where the neighbors would see that there would not be able to be alcohol served,” Madison told the board. He said the committee included limits on signage, setbacks and permitted uses and that any future use change — including an application that might support gaming — would require a new public process.

Opponents said the rezoning leaves an opening for future changes and noted petitions from residents opposing a liquor license. Mike Babcock, who spoke for residents, said petitions collected from the neighborhood showed strong resistance: “250 signatures from the neighborhood of about 500 homes…they do not want to give up pour liquor and they do not want slot machines,” he said, and announced he would vote no.

County zoning staff said the property has been a continuous nonconforming commercial use for decades and that the B-5 classification was the mechanism to bring the land into proper zoning with enforceable conditions. “This was zoned Residential for 51 years. It was a continuous Legal Non-Conforming use. We thought the best way to make the correct zoning would be to make it a B5 district,” county zoning staff member Chris Doucleff said.

Board members also discussed practical enforcement tools and legal exposure. County legal counsel said routine judicial review of zoning decisions examines whether the process considered appropriate factors and followed a deliberate procedure; the county provided both committee and Zoning Board of Appeals consideration before the County Board vote. Several members urged deference to the local board member in whose district the site sits. Matt King, the district representative, said he had canvassed neighborhoods and said he would support the rezoning: “I’m going to vote yes on this…we can keep an eye on him and make sure he stands up to his side of the bargain.”

The resolution’s Appendix A spells out district-specific conditions, including front/side/rear yard setbacks, maximum floor area ratios, a prohibition on certain residential and industrial uses, and a clause that additional significant changes to the proposed site plan would require further committee review.

The vote was 19 ayes and 9 nays. Supporters said the tailored B-5 control lets the county limit uses and require future public review for substantive changes; opponents said petitions and residents’ concerns suggested the board should deny the rezoning.

The County Board’s action does not automatically change any liquor or gaming licenses; those must still be sought through separate licensing and, if applicable, special-use processes governed by county rules and state approvals. The item will remain subject to monitoring by county staff and the Liquor Investigator as outlined by county procedure.

The board moved on to other business after the vote. The B-5 zoning will take effect immediately under the resolution as adopted by the board.