Two developers hit a roadblock last week in their plans to bring more commercial offerings to East Brainerd Road. Rezoning requests for both developments planned for the fast-growing corridor were withdrawn by their respective applicants during the regional planning commission meeting Jan. 14.
The first request, if approved, would have rezoned a 3.5-acre property on the 8500 block of East Brainerd Road from an R-1 residential zone to a C-2 zone, for convenience commercial. The change would have enabled request applicant Berry Engineering to bring an office-and-retail building to the property, along with a climate-controlled storage building toward the rear of the property.
When it was originally brought before the board in October 2018, planning commission staffers recommended to deny the request. The matter was instead deferred for 60 days.
The initial recommendation to deny was made because the proposal was not compatible with the 2003 East Brainerd Corridor Community Plan or with the surrounding single-family homes, the staff said at that time.
The commission's vote on the project was deferred again for 30 days in December, when developers asked for more time to consider the staff's previous comments and investigate what the developers wanted to do with the property.
Berry Engineering could not be reached for comment following its withdrawal of the rezoning request.
The second withdrawn request sought to rezone property at 7741 East Brainerd Road from an O-1 office zone to C-2. If approved, the land would have been designated for "general retail use," according to the request.
No further explanation for the withdrawal was offered during the meeting and the applicant could not immediately be reached for comment.
Email Myron Madden at mmadden@timesfreepress.com.