Sulphur Springs City Council approved three zoning ordinances as proposed at the elected board’s regular May meeting.
City officials approved on second reading Ordinance No. 2778, and on first reading Ordinances No. 2780 and No. 2791. These properties are located along the State Highway 19/Loop 301/I-30 corridor, which was intended for commercial and industrial development.
When Wildcat Way as constructed ad the area around it was annexed into the city, place holder were put on a few properties, labeling them as single family. Those were never changed to reflect current use or potential use for each.
Donnie and Allen Wisenbaker in March asked their property at the northwest corner of Rockdale Road and State Highway 19 be rezoned from single family to heavy commercial to reflect the intended use along that corridor.
Larry and Linda Evans have property at 1340 South Hillcrest Drive, which is across from the area the Wisenbakers asked be rezoned. The Evans’ then realized their property which is currently being used for commercial purposes also has a single family zoning designation. They asked that it be rezoned heavy commercial to better fit the existing uses and potential use of the property.
Both the Wisenbaker Rockdale Road and Hillcrest Drive properties are currently surrounded by a mix of zoning designations. City staff recommended heavy commercial as an appropriate use for both given the context of the area, Sulphur Springs Community Development Director Tory Niewiadomski noted.
The Sulphur Springs Planning & Zoning Commission in March recommended the Wisenbaker request and in April the Evans’ request, forwarding both for City Council consideration. The City Council approved on first reading in April the rezoning request from the Wisenbakers, and granted the request to rezone the property as heavy commercial on second reading Tuesday evening. The Council approved the Evans’ request on first reading to rezone the South Hillcrest Drive property as heavy commercial.
A third rezoning request made by Chuck Sickles received approval on first reading by the City Council on May 4, 2021. A shop is currently operated on the properties at 1079 Rockdale Road and 1084 Rockdale Road. The request would clean up split zoning across property lines on the lots. In order to clean up the zoning, Sickles asked that the property be zoned heavy commercial, which is consistent with the body shop use, which the property frontage is zoned.
Surrounding Sickles’ Rockdale Road properties are a mix of zoning designations: heavy commercial and single family.. Niewiadomski noted that rezoning the Rockdale Road properties to all heavy commercial would be an appropriate use given the context of the area and the fact that it fits the land use plan of commercial property along I-30 and Rockdale Road. The P&Z Commission approved the request in April, sending it to the city council for first reading on Tuesday evening.
