A residence at 11265 Red Oak Dr. that the Planning Commission approved for rezoning Monday had been foreclosed on and vacant for a long time, says owner Archie Jones, but has been cleaned up and could provide 3,600 square feet of office space in the North Sherwood Forest Boulevard area.
“No tobacco, no alcohol—none of what dominates the area,” says Jones, who owns apartment complexes in the vicinity and adds he has insurance companies and real estate brokers in mind for the space. “You could call it a mini shopping center, if you will.”
While the Planning Commission approved the rezoning of Jones’ property from residential to light commercial, it denied at the same Monday meeting a more prohibitive rezoning for a residence at 4150 Perkins Road—on the corner of Stuart Avenue—to house a medical office. Both proposals require amending the FuturEBR master land-use plan.
Attorney Randy Roussel, representing Ben Skillman’s property on Perkins, says his client will appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to the Metro Council on Nov. 20. Roussel argued Monday night that the proposed rezoning from residential to mixed-small planned unit development would have restricted changes to the structure and landscaping on the 1.3-acre property.
City-parish staff recommended that the Planning Commission rezone the Skillman property and deny the rezoning of Jones’ property—which still needs Metro Council approval.
However, Southdowns residents and parishioners of St. Aloysius Church strongly opposed rezoning the Skillman property. They crowded the Planning Commission chambers to standing-room-only capacity and made their voices heard for nearly two hours.
Jones says there was one vocal opponent to his application.
But the two properties are not comparable, says Jones. One is an area gilded with new restaurants and retailers on one side, while his property is in an area tarnished with shootings and violent crime.
“It’s part of our effort to clean up that area of Sherwood,” Jones says of the rezoning. “It’s what should be done.”
Roussel unsuccessfully argued that commercial zoning for the north side of Perkins for several blocks in the area is exactly why Skillman’s property should be rezoned—the south side isn’t exactly residential anymore.
“This is not where you need to put a family,” Roussel says.
Opponents to the Skillman rezoning say if approved, it will create a “domino effect” by which surrounding properties on Perkins’ south side would follow suit.
