Feb. 20 -- Waynesville's town council gave the green light to a rezoning request that would allow a popular food truck to temporarily set up shop in Hazelwood, overriding a decision made earlier by its planning board.
Town council unanimously voted last week to rezone a parcel at 4 Elysinia Avenue from Hazelwood Urban Residential to Hazelwood Business District. The move will allow Gaby's food truck to temporarily relocate to the .68-acre site. There is currently a vacant single-family home on the property.
The town's planning board in a split 3-2 vote last month recommended that town council not approve the rezoning request. However, four planning board members did not attend that meeting.
Gaby's is currently located at Charlie's Corner near the closed Depot Street bridge in Frog Level. The bridge was closed in early October after sustaining damage from Tropical Storm Helene in late September. Town staff said in a memo that the closed bridge is limiting traffic and "making it difficult to operate a food truck."
But one concern voiced by planning board member Ginger Hain in January was that rezoning the property to allow more commercial uses on the property would put a squeeze on residential options in town.
Planning board member John Baus said last month the planning board should not be in the business of rezoning individual parcels but instead should focus on whole areas.
But town council was supportive of a move by the Burgin Family Trust that would open the property not only to food trucks but to office, service and commercial uses. Food trucks are not allowed in the Hazelwood Urban Residential district but are permitted in the neighborhood's business district.
Other than having Gaby's move to the site, John Burgin, who represented the family trust, said there are no other concrete plans for the property. Mayor Gary Caldwell asked Burgin if the property would be "spruced up a bit" and Burgin responded by saying that would "be the plan."
"What started this was Gaby's losing its traffic pattern in Frog Level," Burgin said. "It (Elysinia) is a great little piece of property, and we thought it would be great for her to move up there. Then we discovered it wasn't allowed, and that is what started this process. I have no long-term future plans for that property, but it would be a nice piece of property for food trucks."
Burgin noted that the zoning change still allows residential uses of the property.
The property is a corner lot, surrounded on both sides by commercial zoning with residential properties to the north. The uses of the surrounding commercial properties include heavy vehicle storage, retail, and an urgent care facility. The town's proposed new fire station on a vacant parcel on Mosaic Place is across the street from 4 Elysinia Ave.
"I think this is a good thing for the community, for Hazelwood," Burgin said.
The rezoning removes density restrictions for the property, which would bring it into alignment with the surrounding properties. But despite no density restrictions, any development would still have to meet criteria including height restrictions and parking rules, among others.
"We can't do more residential than the property can hold," Burgin said. "There are several other things we would have to meet, adhere to."