Franklin County approves zoning change for 233-acre Westbrook Road tract

Franklin County’s Board of Commissioners has approved a zoning change for 233.48 acres at 1976 Westbrook Road in Commerce, shifting the tract from Agricultural Intensive, or AI, to Agricultural, or AG. An April 16 Planning and Zoning Commission agenda reports that commissioners approved the request 5-0; the application identified an agricultural use for the property associated with Michael Van Winkle and the Jemmie H. Van Winkle Trust.

The decision sets the land-use classification for a large District 1 tract and therefore the rules under which it can be used. For neighbors and county residents tracking growth and land-use decisions around Commerce, the vote resolves the requested zoning category, while leaving unanswered how the county will formally record and administer the new designation.

The case first appeared on the Planning and Zoning Commission’s March 19 agenda as a proposal to move the Westbrook Road tract from AI to AG for agricultural use. It then reached the commissioners’ April 6 public-hearing process, where the request was discussed after the Planning Commission had recommended approval 4-0. The April 16 planning agenda subsequently reported that the Board of Commissioners had approved the rezone 5-0, establishing that the request advanced from review to approval.

The applicants sought AG zoning and described an agricultural proposed use. County planning officials recommended approval, according to the April 6 agenda, and the commissioners ultimately approved the request unanimously, as reported in the later planning agenda. The agenda and meeting materials summarized here do not identify public commenters, nearby owners or organized opposition, so they do not establish whether anyone argued for conditions or against the change.

The rezone is approved, not simply proposed or under discussion. But the April 6 meeting text records discussion without a board vote tally or final action for that date, and the later agenda that reports the 5-0 decision does not say when commissioners cast that vote. Neither the agendas nor the meeting text describe approval conditions, a later ordinance entry, a zoning-map revision or a construction plan; agricultural use was the stated proposal, not proof of a later project.

The next public sign of follow-through would be a county zoning record, ordinance entry, map update or similar document reflecting the AG classification for the Westbrook Road property. What remains undecided in the public materials is whether the approval carried conditions, when the classification will appear in county records and whether any separate action or development proposal will follow.