Potential buyer no longer interested in North Main property

Denny Meyers of Tool & Die Inc., potential buyer of property in the 600 block of North Main Street if it could be rezoned from business to light industrial, has decided against pursuing the property any longer.

Meyers was identified by Rita Martin and Dave Hager as being interested in buying the property with four buildings to run a tool and die shop, but needed rezoning from B-1 to I-1 to accommodate his business. Hager said he liked the property’s four buildings because they seemed suitable for his business, as opposed to having to build.

However, the rezoning request at first was turned down 4-3 by the City Council after it had been recommended by the Planning Commission. Council reversed the vote later the same night on conditions, but the city attorney indicated the second action was not legal and had to be rescinded.

Council agreed to allow the change if it applied only to the current buyer. Rezoning was to be contingent on successful sale of the site by Hager and Martin to Meyers.

But now the request stands as rejected. Martin and Hager have been told they may resubmit it and specify in writing what conditions could govern the changes.

The request was recommended 4-1 for approval by the City Planning Commission at its meeting May 12.

Councilwoman Jennifer Antel raised the most vocal objections to the original request, insisting, “It opens up a whole new ball of wax. I don’t think it (rezoning to industrial) meets the criteria of the area.”

Mayor Tim Bala said he disagreed and suggested the property owner would have to come to council for any changes, “so we’d have some measure of control.”

City Manager Mike Selden said, “The property isn’t well suited for B-1. I don’t know that the buildings are compatible.”

“We got burned before,” Antel said, “and I’m trying the learn from our mistakes.”

She noted that a developer in the past asked the city for a rezoning and the site later permitted toxic chemicals to be used legally as a result.

But Selden said, “I don’t know if we have zoning that fits that (North Main) property.”

In the first vote, Antel’s opposition was joined by Rick Mathis, Tim Rose and John Sloan, with Lisa Banas, Bala and Tracy Bivins voting in the affirmative.

Hager then told the council, “We’ve got existing buildings that don’t fit your zoning. We’ve got tall ceiling and overhead doors… We have a current buyer.”

Because council pressed him to learn what would go in at the site, Hager identified Meyers and the tool and tie operation. He said Meyers needs to know about the rezoning decision right away because otherwise he will put his business inside the Dorr Industrial Park.

Planning Commissioner Ryan Martin Tuesday night told his colleagues Meyers now has decided to build in the Dorr Industrial Park instead.

Meanwhile, the zoning for the property and four buildings in the 600 block of North Main, across the street from the huge vacant lot, remains at B-1. It was the site in days gone by of a Ford dealership and Quality Pools. It is essentially vacant now, though occasionally vehicles have been seen coming and going and even being parked in the parking lot there.