City staff seeks rezoning of 116 East Garden Ave. from CC to R‑1 to allow single‑family use

City staff on Wednesday presented a zoning map amendment application to rezone 116 East Garden Avenue from Commercial Corridor (CC) to R‑1, a change planners say would allow the property to be used and financed as a single‑family residence.

"This application is asking to change the highlighted lot as indicated on the right from commercial corridor or CC to R 1," said Jed Schum, city planner in Community Development, explaining that the current CC designation prohibits residential uses and has left the property owner limited financing options.

Schum told the council the lot measures about 0.14 acre, or roughly 6,098 square feet according to county assessor records, which places it well under the CC minimum lot size of one acre but above the R‑1 minimums (Schum said the lot exceeds 6,000 square feet and meets the 50‑foot minimum width for R‑1 zoning). He said staff believes rezoning the parcel would align the official zoning with the existing neighborhood character shown on the general plan's future land use map.

Council Chair Charlotte Bynum praised the proposal. "This is a nice thing to see in all of my years on the council to see that we're adding some residential single family," she said.

Schum said staff will forward the application to the Planning Commission for a recommendation at its Aug. 6 meeting and will return to the City Council for formal consideration at the council's Aug. 26 regular meeting.

No formal action was taken during the work meeting; the item remains scheduled for public hearings and decision at the listed future meetings.