Flomaton approves zoning

Following a 45-minute public hearing Tuesday night, the Flomaton Town Council voted unanimously to approve a zoning ordinance and future land use map for the corporate limits of the town.

With Councilman Jim Johnson absent, council members Roger Adkinson, Kay Wagner, Charlie Reardon and Lillian Dean, along with Mayor Dewey Bondurant, Jr., voted to adopt the ordinance and map.

In casting her vote, Wagner said the vote was “inevitable” and stated “I'm against it, but I'll vote for it”.

The new ordinance and map go into effect immediately.

During a public hearing, Diane Burnett with the South Alabama Planning Commission told the council and crowd that zoning is intended to protect residential property as well as commercial property.

She also noted that any residence or business that now finds itself in a different zone will be grandfathered in. She noted it's a scaled down map with only three zones: residential, business and manufacturing.

Jason Beasley asked why lumber yards would be prohibited and questioned if a Marvin's wanted to come to Flomaton, would they be allowed to come into the town.

Burnett said a Marvin's would be considered a retail business and could locate in a business district.

Burnett also said currently there is no protection for businesses or residential neighborhoods without zoning.

Mayor Bondurant said a Jack's Hamburger was wanting to come to Flomaton but would not come due to the lack of zoning.

Burnett also said new businesses looking to come to Flomaton would have a hard time finding financing without zoning, noting that lending institutions want to make sure the business is protected.

Chris Burnham said the map shows his house in the Holt Subdivision is listed in the business district.

“There will be a few changes as we go along,” Bondurant said.

Bondurant noted that Flomaton has an average of 18,000 vehicles a day come through and said the lack of zoning and available land has kept a motel from coming.

“All we're trying to do this for is to make our little town better,” Bondurant said.

Martha Sansom said her house was in a commercial zone and questioned if it was destroyed, could she rebuild? Burnett said yes.

Burnett also said once the ordinance and map were adopted, a board of adjustments committee would be formed to consider any land use changes. She said the committee would consist of five members with each council member picking someone for the committee.

“The map is not accurate right now,” Wagner said.

“There are mistakes in the map and we'll correct it,” Bondurant said. “If ya'll don't want zoning we'll forget it.”

“We know we need to tweak the map but we've got to get these things done,” Reardon said. “We need to get our feet on the ground and run.”

Burnett also said it's very common, with new zoning, to find mistakes, but said they can easily be fixed

Dean also asked that if a current residence was now in a commercial zone, would if affect the property taxes?

Burnett said no, stating the property would be taxed by its current use.