Henderson planning board turns down zoning request for tire store

Greg Harman

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

The Henderson Planning Commission rejected a rezoning request Thursday night that would have allowed a Goodyear tire repair station on a 5-acre parcel zoned for neighborhood-commercial and sandwiched by residential areas.

Commissioners rejected the request of P.C. Smith Properties despite the support for the shop expressed by the majority of homeowners addressing the issue.

Contesting a neighbor's concern about the possibility of increased noise because of the garage, Henderson resident Rosemary Headley said that residents near the proposed location northwest of the intersection of Gibson Road and Las Palmas Entrada Avenue already get an earful from traffic humming along nearby Interstate 215.

"It won't affect us to add Goodyear to it," she said.

But commissioners balked at the possibility of opening the door to more intensive uses on the neighborhood-commercial parcel by reclassifying it general commercial.

When John Marchiano, representing Smith Properties, suggested that commissioners rezone only the pad in question and leave the parcel as it is, it set off a stream of protests from commissioners and city staff.

"It's just a precedent we don't want to set," said Liza Conroy, assistant city attorney.

"I'm afraid we're gonna see a parade of these things coming forward," Commissioner Guy Van Wyck added. "It's something we could lose control of real easy."

Commissioners unanimously followed Commissioner JoAnn Huffaker's lead when she made the motion to reject the request, saying, "I still think it's a good idea we have to leave a residential area to go to a tire store."

In other action, the commissioners approved the draft Cornerstone Redevelopment Plan that designates lands north of I-215 and west of Stephanie Street as a new redevelopment zone.

The project would eventually include 2 million square feet of retail and office space and boast a 100-acre park with lake.

The City Council will hear the proposal in December. A public hearing is tentatively planned for mid-January.