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STANFORD – Stanford City Council members passed an ordinance this month to help correct several improperly zoned areas in the city.

Stanford Mayor Dalton Miller told council members during the March 10 meeting that in 1993 when zoning was first adopted, some residences were zoned as businesses, including the L&N Depot and lots nearby, despite the fact that it was a park.

“There’s just a lot of things that have to be corrected,” Miller said. “On Maxwell there were a lot of lots that were listed as B-1 that are residential. Three Habitat houses were built on business lots.”

The issue came to light when a Maxwell Street property was sold to Habitat for Humanity to allow affordable housing for veterans. The property was zoned B-2 and subsequently had to be changed to B-1 so the residence could be built.

According to the minutes from the Planning and Zoning Commission’s Dec. 16 meeting, Code Enforcement Officer Jeff Knouse previously presented a video map of all of the areas in the city that he and the commission agreed needed to be amended to “bring them in line with the proper zone in which they are located.”

The properties were either improperly zoned when zoning took effect in 1993 or the areas had changed significantly in their “make up” over the past 30 or so years.

During the commission’s Jan. 27 meeting, 6 to 7 citizens voiced concerns regarding the proposed changes due to a clerical error in the letters sent to homeowners.

“A possible cause for concern could have been the discrepancy between the signs and the certified letters that were mailed out,” the Jan. 27 meeting minutes state. “The yard signs were accurate, referencing the proposed change from B-2 to R-1. However, the lettres stated the change would be from B-2 to R-2, the designation for multi-family dwellings.”

That error was corrected and a second letter was sent out with the correct information.

“So we’re trying to correct some things and get things in the right zone,” Miller said during the March 10 council meeting. “We had two public hearings because of a simple error.

We went ahead and suspended that meeting and sent out new letters and followed up the following month because of an error we made. We corrected it.”

The group of residents was satisfied with the explanation and results of the hearing, according to the meeting minutes.

The exact locations that have to be corrected are as follows:
• 208, 212, 214, 216, 218, 220, 226, 228, 230, 232, 234, 236, 240, 225, 227, 229 and 235 Maxwell Street

• 101, 103, and 104 East Maxwell Street

• 101, 103, 105 and 107 Ready Mix Street

• a 1.159 acre lot on the north side of East Main Street lying between U.S. Hwy. 27 and Powell Street

• 6,39 acres on the south side of U.S. 150 between U.S. Hwy. 27 and River Drive; and

• 301 Danville Avenue.

The Maxwell Street and Ready Mix Street properties will be rezoned from a classification of B-2 Neighborhood Business District to R-1 Single Family Residential District.

The 1.159 acres on East Main Street will be rezoned from a classification of R-2 Two-Family Residential District to a B-3 Highway Business District classification.

The 6.39 acres between U.S. Hwy. 27 and River Drive will be rezoned from partially an R-1 Single Residential classification and partially an R-3 classification to a B-3 Highway Business District Classification.

The property located at 301 Danville Avenue will be rezoned from an R-1 Single Family Residential District to a B-2 Neighborhood Business District.

Stanford Council Members voted unanimously to pass the first reading of the ordinance amending those zoning changes.