City expands permitted uses in heavy industry zoning.Byline: Jack Moran Moran equitable councillor to King Feredach. [Irish Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 728] See : Justice The Register-Guard SPRINGFIELD - Eugene attorney Jim Spickerman represents someone - he won't say who - interested in knowing if city officials would allow the construction of a big-box home improvement store like a Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box or Lowe's on his property, which is zoned for heavy industrial development. On behalf of his anonymous client, Spickerman in May requested a formal ruling on the issue. An answer came this week, when Springfield's planning commission Noun 1. planning commission - a commission delegated to propose plans for future activities and developments commission, committee - a special group delegated to consider some matter; "a committee is a group that keeps minutes and loses hours" - Milton Berle voted to add "home improvement center" to a list of uses already permitted on land designated for heavy industry. Lumber yards lumber yard n (US) → almacén m de madera lumber yard n → entrepôt m de bois lumber yard n , warehouses and supply dealers are typical uses in that particular zoning district. The change endorsed by the commission clarifies an issue that could make it easier for a home improvement store to move to vacant industrial land in Springfield. But it's unclear if any specific development proposal is in the works, and Spickerman said he has no knowledge of "which particular property (his client) might have in mind" for a home improvement store. The commission's ruling applies to all land in Springfield zoned for heavy industrial use, city Development Services Director Bill Grile said. "There's nothing site-specific about it," Grile said. Until now, Springfield's development code did not list home improvement centers as a permitted use in any zoning district. The Jerry's store on Olympic Street is situated in an area zoned for commercial development. Home Depot made a push to set up shop in Springfield in 2001. The retail giant's hopes were dashed when the City Council denied its request to rezone re·zone tr.v. re·zoned, re·zon·ing, re·zones To change the zoning classification of (a neighborhood or property, for example). re property designated for campus-style industrial development near 28th Street and Marcola Road. That same property might become the future home of a Lowe's store, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. preliminary planning documents filed earlier this year with the city. Under plans submitted by Satre Associates of Eugene, a 170,000-square-foot Lowe's home improvement center would anchor a mixed-use development Mixed-use development refers to the practice of allowing more than one type of use in a building or set of buildings. In planning zone terms, this can mean some combination of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional, or other land uses. that also would include homes and acres of commercial and retail space. Planning and zoning designations on the property would have to be changed before that project could proceed. The topic of allowing a home improvement store on land zoned for heavy industrial use arose in Springfield five years ago, around the same time Home Depot sought to build in the city. Eugene developer John Hammer John William Hammer born 27 September 1935 in Sunbury, Victoria, Australia. He founded Superules, an Australian rules football competition for those over 35 years of age at a meeting at the Zero Inn, Nhill, Victoria in 1980. told city officials he wanted to attract a store like a Home Depot or Lowe's to property he owns near 42nd and Olympic Streets. Springfield planners said at the time that they felt it would be a suitable use of Hammer's land, but he would need to file a formal request with the city to obtain an official opinion. |
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