ASHLAND — The Ashland City Planning Commission thinks the newly annexed land near Interstate 71 and U.S. Route 250 should be zoned for business, including potential housing and hotels.
The planning commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend council’s approval of a B-2 designation for the 91 acres.
The zoning district allows for the development of most businesses, including apartments and hotels, according to the city’s zoning ordinances. The ordinance allows for anything in a B-1 district, but is less restrictive when it comes to height limits; in B-2, there is no height limit to buildings.
“(B-2 allows for) pretty much anything but manufacturing,” said Ashland Mayor Matt Miller.
The planning commission decided against choosing the city’s highway service business district, B-3, because it wanted to avoid the least restrictive of the business districts.
“It opens up to the possibility of a whole other level of … different types of businesses,” Miller said.
The city’s zoning ordinance states a B-3 zone allows anything in B-1 and B-2 — and farm implement sales shops, commercial greenhouses, animal hospitals, ice storage, trailer sales lots, gas stations, truck terminals and drive-in restaurants.
It also didn’t feel the manufacturing zoning districts fit the area because of its proximity to residential areas.
The existing gas stations out that way would be grandfathered into the new B-2 zoning district and be classified as “permitted non-conforming use,” said Shane Kremser, the city’s engineer.
Eventually, Kremser said, the city needs to update the zoning ordinances to reflect a more modern reality. “Drive-in” restaurants, for example, don’t really exist anymore.
Much of the city’s existing zoning ordinances were last updated and approved in 1966.
Kremser said the annexed area is not a “highway service” area.
“It’s a regional corridor,” he said, adding the area could potentially bring restaurants, multi-use paths, hotels and apartments.
Planning commission member Rick Ewing urged city officials and the planning commission to review the zoning ordinances.
“I really don’t like zoning something with existing non-conforming use, especially since B-3 is a highway service business district. That’s the definition of what we’re talking about here,” Ewing said. “So we need to update that zoning.”
The recommendation to zone the annexed land B-2 now goes before Ashland City Council for final approval.