After several months of cancelled meetings due to lack of business, the Planning Commission meet briefly recommending rezoning for two small parcels Monday.
Before the June meeting, the three previous monthly meeting had all been cancelled and the October, November and December meetings in 2008 were also cancelled due to lack of agenda items.
The Monday meeting which lasted barely 15 minutes saw the commission handle two routine pieces of business:
• They recommended that a 5 acre tract on the Highway 136 Connector near Hinton be rezoned from agricultural to highway business.
• They recommended that a 6.02 acres parcel on Parker Road be rezoned from rural residential to suburban residential.
The first property discussed Monday is owned by Julie and Stephen Timmons. Ms. Timmons addressed the commission saying the property located behind the Old Thomason Store could be a viable spot for a grocery store, pharmacy or bank. She said they didn’t have any immediate plans for it.
Commission member Pat Holmes asked if they could stipulate that the property be developed in keeping with the “character” of the surrounding area which includes small town streetscapes at Ranch 74 and Hinton Milling Company.
However Joey Low, Director of Pickens County’s Planning and Development Department, said he didn’t see how they could create a stipulation that would be enforceable. County Attorney Phil Landrum also said there would be questions as to how would you enforce a character stipulation?
There was no further discussion on the issue and the commission recommended the rezoning unanimously.
The second parcel owned by Lawson McArthur LLC, was represented by Alex McArthur. He said they bought the property as an investment and intend to split an existing house and shop out of the 6.02 acre parcel and re-sale it and leaving them a five acre parcel for future sale or development.
One nearby homeowner asked McArthur a couple of questions and they discussed whether the goats which are kept on another nearby parcel are a goat farm or not. It was stated that the animals do a good job keeping the grass eaten and don’t bother anyone so it didn’t matter if it was a farm or just pets. McArthur told the homeowner that they definitely intended some type of residential use for the parcel being rezoned. They were requesting the suburban residential designation in case they want to divide the five acre tract later.
The commission unanimously approved this rezoning with no further discussion.
There were no verbal reports presented at the meeting. The entire meeting can be seen on video at www.knowpickens.com.
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