Planning commission tables Griffiths zone-change request, outlines revised rezoning plan

The Orderville Town Planning and Zoning Commission voted March 25 to table a zone-change application from applicant Terry Griffiths and asked him to submit a revised request reflecting the commission’s consensus on parcel designations. The commission opened a public hearing on the proposed change from Single-Family Residential (R-1A) to Commercial (C-1) for parcels O-6-13, O-6-14 and O-6-15; the hearing closed with no public comment.

Commission members said driveway access and the town’s limited housing stock weighed on their deliberations. During discussion the commission noted that, after the proposed lot-line adjustment, at least one parcel would be undersized for R-1A zoning (about 8,000 square feet) and another would be approximately 9,000 square feet, complicating a straightforward residential designation. Commissioners explored alternatives including variances, rezoning only parcel O-6-14, or rezoning plus variances before settling on a path forward.

By consensus the commission recommended that O-6-13 remain R-1A, that O-6-14 (which contains most of the driveway) be rezoned to C-1, and that O-6-15 be changed from R-1A to R-1 to reflect its smaller lot size. Tony Collins moved to table the current application and asked the applicant to submit a revised zone-change request reflecting those changes for the commission’s April meeting; the item was tabled to allow for new public notice and resubmission.

The decision is advisory to the Town Council; the commission’s recommendation and the applicant’s revised filing will be considered by the council in a future hearing. The commission recorded the tabled motion and directed the applicant to return with the revised application and appropriate public notice.