Zoning hearing set for Feb. 12 for retail site
The City’s Planning and Zoning Board has set a public hearing on Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. to determine whether three lots owned by County Commissioner Stacey Rogers should be rezoned to possibly make way for a grocery store on State Highway 79.
Mr. Rogers told Planning and Zoning Board members at a meeting in December that the zoning change for the properties are part of a plan by Olney Economic Development Corporation executive director Tom Parker to bring businesses to the City of Olney.
Mr. Rogers told the Enterprise that “being County Commissioner has nothing to do with” the local rezoning.
“It needs [to be] rezoned for retail business for placement on an inventory of available properties that can be considered to help bring in new retail or industry,” he said. “It has been asked if the property was for sale by a developer that may or may not sell procery. It’s not a grocery-only store being considered.”
Mr. Rogers requested last month that then-City Administrator Arpegea Pagsuberon prepare paperwork for a zoning change for three parcels of land he owns for “new development.” In a letter dated Dec. 15, 2023, Mr. Rogers requested “a meeting and action as quickly as possible as we are attempting to place the property in contract by the end of the year.”
The lots were listed as 301 State Highway 79 South, 305 State Highway 79 South, and 307 State Highway 79 South on a public notice issued on Dec. 28 by the Planning and Zoning Board of the City of Olney.
Since Mr. Rogers specified in his letter only that he wanted the land changed to “commercial” – which is not an actual zoning designation – Ms. Pagsuberon said she filled out the paperwork for an agricultural to industrial district rezoning because the properties sit in an industrial zone.
The only other designation available for that area is Business-3, which includes retail, according to City Code.
Olney zoning rules do not permit “spot zoning,” defined by the Texas City Attorney’s Association as “the illegal practice of zoning a single tract of land in a manner that is incompatible with the surrounding area and in a manner that is incompatible with the city’s zoning ordinance and comprehensive plan.”
The Planning and Zoning Board set a Jan. 4 public hearing to give all interested parties the right to appear and comment on Mr. Rogers’ application.
The planning board meeting was attended by members Steve Slater of Interbank, Lora Myers, former Olney Economic Development Corporation executive director Wylie Hughey, Jim Strealey, Ms. Pagsuberon, and Mr. Rogers. Mrs. Myers said she asked Mr. Rogers “what was going to go on [the land]” but did not receive an answer as the discussion then moved to the zoning map.
Mr. Rogers then mentioned that he was working on the rezoning with Mr. Parker, Mrs. Myers said.
A day or so after the board approved the zoning change, Mr. Slater said Mr. Parker informed him of a plan to put a grocery store at the site - necessitating a B-3 zoning.
In addition to Stewart’s Food Store, two other stores in Olney sell groceries – Family Dollar and the Dollar Store. Robert Stewart, owner of Stewart’s Food Store, said he had not been informed about the plan or the hearing by Mr. Parker.
One of the OEDC’s new mandates is to promote local businesses with a portion of the sales taxes collected from those businesses. Another is to attract new businesses to town.