Supervisors approve Bozeman rezoning
Despite formal opposition from the city of Madison and several subdivisions, Madison County supervisors on Monday voted narrowly to approve rezoning about 350 acres near the proposed Reunion interchange on Bozeman Road.
A significant portion of the property will now be zoned as a Highway Commercial District (C-2). The approval came with the stipulation that about 20 specific uses be prohibited.
These uses include fireworks stands, pawn shops, used car lots, motels and tattoo parlors.
The rezoning passed 3-2 with District 2 Supervisor Trey Baxter and District 1 Supervisor Sheila Jones voting “nay.”
The land in question is owned by the Minnie J. Bozeman Family Limited Partnership and was zoned as a Special Use District (SU-1) that allows for educational institutions, retirement facilities and colleges, before Monday’s decision by the supervisors.
The matter was recommended for approval by the Madison County Planning & Zoning Commission in a 4-1 vote in February.
The item had previously come before the Board of Supervisors three weeks ago in early May.
Baxter said his specific opposition was that he had not been properly convinced that the character of the area had meaningfully changed to warrant the rezoning. He noted that the application cited developments like the Nissan Plant and Amazon distribution center which were close to five miles away well outside of the half-mile standard he believed to be established by case law.
District 3 Supervisor Gerald Steen disagreed.
“If you have not seen a change you are not living in Madison County,” Steen said.
At least five people spoke in opposition to the rezoning. They represented such groups as the Reunion Property Owner Association and the Ingleside Homeowners Association.
Residents of Cherry Hill Plantation and the Belle Terre subdivisions also spoke. All wanted more time to negotiate with the land owners and some said they had additional uses they would like to see prohibited like hotels, car dealerships and convenience stores.
Steen said the opposition reminded him of the “uproar” surrounding the Costco that opened in Ridgeland in March 2020 on the Highland Colony Parkway where he lives, saying that claims that the development could “devastate” the area proved to be unfounded in his opinion.
Steen said all developments have their “pros and cons.”
Steen, who works in the convenience store business, did acknowledge that those who opposed the decision could take legal action if they thought the decision was improper.