The Commerce Planning Commission voted to recommend that the city council approve a rezoning to allow a garage and towing service to relocate off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
Changing the 4.12-acre tract from R-5 (mobile homes) to C-2 (commercial) is a classic case of spot zoning, but the planning panel figured its location next to the old city dump to be a mitigating factor.
Danny Allen made the request on behalf of his daughter and son-in-law, who plan to construct a building and lease the business to a Banks County man.
“I find it difficult to see how you can challenge any zoning next to a landfill,” commented planning commission chairman Greg Perry, who made the motion that Allen’s request be granted.
The Commerce City Council will make the final decision at its Nov. 9 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Commerce Room of the Commerce Civic Center.
David Zellner, director of planning and development for the city, had pointed out that the move amounted to spot zoning.
“There is nothing that is C-2 or commercial at all until you get to Homer Road,” Zellner said. He also added that Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is “not the best road” and will be damaged by heavy tow trucks coming to the site.
“That’s no worse than the city trucks,” Allen pointed out. “They’ve been going in and out 17 years.”
