Aurora planning panel favors industrial rezoning on Route 43
AURORA – One rezoning request has been sent to City Council by the planning commission with a positive recommendation to go on the Nov. 8 ballot, while another is continuing to be studied.
At its May 4 session, the planning panel favored Aurora 43 South LLC’s request to rezone 25.4 acres on the west side of Route 43 across from Aurora Industrial Parkway from R-4 residential to I-1 manufacturing, processing and wholesaling.
That rezoning request was to be on first reading at Council’s May 9 meeting.
If Council sends the issue to the ballot and voters approve it, the firm plans to erect an approximately 100,000-square-foot industrial building, with substantial buffering between residential lots on Rainbow’s End.
Aurora 43 South LLC officials believe industrial zoning on the Route 43 south property would be a better fit since uses on properties to the south and east are in character with the I-1 zoning district, and vacant industrial land is scarce in the city.
A housing development with 57 units previously was proposed there, and Aurora 43 South LLC officials have said changing the zoning would not add children to the local schools and would bring tax dollars into the city.
Meanwhile, action on Aurora Partners III’s request to rezone 7.18 acres on Maple Lane Extension north of the Brown-Keidel Service Center from C-3 planned community shopping to R-S residential senior housing was postponed pending further study.
The owner has proposed building luxury, independent adult living condominiums. A concept plan proposes about 120, 1,250-plus-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom, owner-occupied condos.
According to law director Dean DePiero, before that rezoning issue is sent to the ballot, the city must adopt a new chapter to the zoning code, which lays out criteria for a senior housing district (R-S). That designation is currently not in the code.
The deadline for placing issues on the Nov. 8 ballot is Aug. 10.
OTHER BUSINESS
The planning panel accepted for study a preliminary site plan for a 65,000-square-foot K&M Tire warehouse on 13.9 acres on Francis D. Kenneth Drive in the southern industrial zone.
Curtis Layer Design Build Inc. would be the builder. Eighty-seven parking spaces – 43 paved to the east and south of the building and 44 land-banked ones to the southwest – are proposed, and there is ample area to the west for a future addition.
A wetlands setback variance, trip generation report and improvement plans are required before a final site plan can be approved. The city’s fire department has expressed concerns about access to the site and water availability.
The panel approved the transfer of a conditional zoning certificate from Edith Tait to Craig Smargiasso for a 0.29-acre commercially-zoned property at 226 S. Chillicothe Road, which will allow Tait to continue living there.
The lot is directly south of Mad Jack’s Grill & Pub and Rick Ellis’ State Farm insurance agency. C-1 zoning is in place to the north and south, with R-3 residential zoning further south and to the east, and city ballfields to the west.
Tait has owned the property, but Smargiasso plans to purchase it. The certificate allows a comparable use for a residential dwelling within a commercial building. A portion of the structure will remain available for future commercial use.
Contact the newspaper at auroraadvocate@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora planning panel favors industrial rezoning on Route 43
