Another rezoning request pops up for Ash Avenue

July 30--DECATUR -- Another request to rezone property at Ash Avenue and U.S. Business 51 is set to come before the Decatur City Council.

Petitioner Mark Ekiss owns the vacant 0.29-acre site at 4183 N. Water St. He is seeking to rezone it from a residential district to an office district, which could allow him to operate his American Family Insurance business on the site.

Unlike a previous effort to rezone multiple parcels to accommodate a new Aldi store, city staff members do not recommend approval.

Assistant City Manager Billy Tyus said city staff believe if a development were to occur in the area, everyone involved should be aware of exactly how it would be designed. A planned development, for example, would allow for a greater level of clarity about how the site would look and function.

"We want to make sure, as best we can, that there is a plan for what could and/or would occur there, and also so that we would be able to provide some level of specific design enhancement in the event that that area would be rezoned, to provide some level of buffering," he said.

The matter is slated to appear before the Decatur Plan Commission at its next meeting, 3 p.m. Thursday. The commission will vote on a recommendation, but the final decision will be made by the city council at a future meeting.

The council in October narrowly rejected a proposal to rezone a 1.88-acre site to build the new Aldi store. Neighbors passionately opposed the project, saying it would worsen traffic problems, lower property values and hurt an established neighborhood.

Ekiss was among the property owners who had agreed to sell his land to Aldi for that deal. Because the area has such a high traffic volume, it isn't attractive for residential development but is suitable for business use, he said.

"After 20 years of paying taxes and mowing it, I need to do something with it," he said.

Officials have said that the intersection, which is highly visible and across the highway from Walmart, is likely to continue to draw the eyes of developers.

"We don't have anything that we can talk about now, but we have continued to have inquiries into development in and around that area," Tyus said. "It becomes our responsibility to try and figure out how to best balance the needs of everyone as best we can."

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