MOUNT VERNON — For the second time in his tenure as city council president, Bruce Hawkins voted on a piece of legislation. On Monday, he broke a 3-3 tie, voting to rezone four South Main Street parcels from R1A to R3 multi-family housing.
Council members Amber Keener, Janis Seavolt, and Tammy Woods voted against the rezoning.
The four parcels cover six lots. Three northern lots were combined into one parcel.
All six lots are buildable. South Main Street would provide access to at least four of them.
Additionally, R1A zoning allows for an accessory structure on each lot for potentially 12 structures on .75 acres.
The Mount Vernon Municipal Planning Commission first heard the rezoning request in October 2024 when owner Joe Updike wanted to accommodate multi-family apartment units.
R4 is a new district under the updated zoning code. It allows single, double, triple, and quad units and above in a single structure.
R1A covers nonconforming lots that are smaller than the current code.
The commission tabled the issue and asked for a site plan. At the Nov. 21, 2024, meeting, the commission deadlocked in a 2-2 tie and made no recommendation to city council.
In February, council members voted to return the rezoning request to the MPC for a definite recommendation.
Commission members voted unanimously to recommend rezoning at their March meeting.
On Monday night, city council held a public hearing on the rezoning. No one spoke in favor of or against the request, but Mount Vernon resident Samantha Scoles emailed the council opposing it.
Councilman John Ruckman said the March MPC meeting featured good information and discussion that changed his perspective as he watched.
The impact of not rezoning
Councilman Mel Severns supported R3 zoning because leaving it R1A makes the property more congested and exits driveways on South Main.
“I think that was kind of the turning point for me to support the idea of this moving to R3,” he said.
“I think it presents a better option for the housing on that property in that specific location.”
Hawkins agreed Main Street should not provide the access, but questioned what assurance council has that it will not happen.
“We haven’t seen a plan. How do we know they’re not going to go out on the Main Street when it’s R3?” he asked.
“It’s important to know you’re not voting on a plan,” Council member Amber Keener responded. “It is simply voting on changing the zoning. But we don’t know. It still could go out on Main Street.”
City requirements for curb cuts
However, Law Director Rob Broeren said curb cuts to access property require city approval.
“We would not generally allow a curb cut onto South Main Street because it’s too close to the intersection. Because they’re all legal buildable lots, we have to grant them at least one curb cut if we leave it R1A,” he said.
Broeren said if Updike uses it as one piece of property to maximize the number of units allowed under R3 zoning, he will probably only get one curb cut, which the city can negotiate.
Safety-service Director Tanner Salyers initially opposed rezoning the parcels. However, he believes R3 avoids the possibility of six small units and six accessory dwellings on the lots.
“That’s something that we wanted to do, encourage infilling, but I think this is an extreme example of that right,” he said.
Before Updike can begin construction, he must submit a site plan that complies with the city’s zoning code.
“Now we actually have a city inspector who will go out to actually make sure that they’re building what they said,” Broeren said.
