By Nathan Prewett
LEEDS – An ordinance to grant a request to rezone a property on Hawkins Road from residential to agricultural failed after a 3-3 vote by the Leeds City Council during a relatively brief meeting on Monday, March 4.
The meeting began with an invitation from Mayor David Miller for the public to take part in a citywide cleanup effort slated to take place on Wednesday March 20. Anyone who is interested in participating may contact Inspections Superintendent Glenn Williams for more information.
Afterwards, the council briefly heard from Kenneth Dawkins, who made the request to rezone a property he owns on Hawkins Road from R-1, Single Family District to A-1, Agricultural District.
When asked by Councilman Kenneth Washington why he wanted to have it rezoned, Dawkins said that in the future he may want to have livestock such as a pony for grandchildren and wanted to have it properly zoned in case.
Following was a discussion about the possible ramifications. Police Chief Paul Irwin cautioned the council, saying that the property is in a residential, populated area and having livestock near residents may prove potentially dangerous.
In contrast, two neighbors spoke in favor of the rezoning, with one, Vannessa Brown, saying that her property bordered Dawkins’ and was comfortable with the idea.
Ultimately the ordinance failed to pass as council members Eric Turner, Angie Latta and Washington voted in favor while Miller, Johnny Dutton and DeVoris Ragland-Pierce voted against it.
Miller said that a concern with rezoning the property was that the Planning and Zoning Commission did not recommend it after the request came to them. He explained that the land use plan currently in effect remains, so approving it without the land use plan would result in it being considered spot zoning. The commission would be responsible for changing the land use.
Legally, spot zoning is an amendment to policies that may contradict a city’s master plan and current zoning restrictions.
“I don’t think anybody had a problem with Mr. Dawkins or anything like that,” he said. “It’s just a matter that’s – spot zoning opens up a real can of worms throughout the city because everybody’s got some little isolated block that they all like to have that’d be a different zone than what’s around them. And so it’s always been legally held that that type of move is considered spot zoning.
Additionally, the council approved declaring items from the police department to be surplus and authorized their sale. Items included several cars, multiple guns and outdated equipment that can be sold to certified dealers or traded for updated products.
The next Leeds City Council meeting will be held on Monday, March 18.
Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.