Planning board recommends denying rezoning of 1116 Medlin Road from low-density residential to office‑medical

MONROE — The Monroe City Planning Board on Wednesday recommended denying a zoning map amendment that would have changed the zoning of 1116 Medlin Road from Residential Low Density (RLD) to Office Medical.

Planner Megan Breithart, with the Monroe planning department, presented the request and said the parcel is developed with a single‑family structure and is located southwest of Medlin Road. Breithart said planning staff finds the request “consistent with the land use and transportation plan” because the plan allows small‑scale office uses in certain areas, but nonetheless recommends denial because the rezoning would permit office and other nonresidential uses within an area that is “primarily residential.”

The recommendation matters locally because rezoning to Office Medical would broaden the range of permitted uses on the site, and planning staff and several board members said that could change neighborhood character. Breithart told the board that notification for the rezoning public hearing will be posted 10 days before the hearing and mailed to property owners within 150 feet, per the standard process.

Board members pressed staff on likely outcomes if the parcel were rezoned. Breithart clarified that single‑family homes are allowed by right in the Office Medical district; she also stated the lot’s development potential in density terms: the parcel is approximately 5 acres, and under the ordinance as explained at the meeting the applicable limit discussed by staff is 2 units per acre — which staff said would yield a not‑to‑exceed figure of about 10 dwelling units on the parcel by right, subject to development review. (Board members earlier referenced higher density figures; Breithart corrected those statements during the discussion.)

Board member Pamela Duda, who said she visited the site, described the existing building as “a residence, but not in a neighborhood — it’s an isolated location” and noted nearby subdivisions and a conditional district called Medland Forest behind the property. Duda and other members expressed concern that rezoning would be inconsistent with the surrounding lots behind the parcel and could allow a different pattern of development than what exists along Medlin Road.

Breithart also said the property owner or their representative was not present; she told the board that the parcel is owned by family members spread across the U.S. and that a realtor had listed the property, reportedly at about $780,000.

After discussion the board made and seconded a motion to recommend adoption of a resolution denying the proposed rezoning. The motion carried unanimously.

Votes at the Dec. 4 meeting were recorded as a board recommendation to deny the zoning map amendment; the planning board’s recommendation will be transmitted to City Council for its public hearing and final decision.

What happens next: the planning board’s recommendation and staff report will be forwarded to city council for a public hearing; standard rezoning notice procedures will apply.