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The Mountain Home City Council will hear the first reading Thursday of a proposed rewrite of the city’s zoning regulations that would break the current catch-all Commercial C-2 designation into several more specific categories.
Planning and Engineering Director Arnold Knox and Building Inspector Clay Strain will present the changes at Thursday’s council meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 720 Hickory St. A second reading is planned for the March 5 meeting, with possible adoption at the March 19 meeting.
Under current rules, the C-2 designation covers a wide range of commercial development and allows businesses to operate around the clock. The proposed changes would retire the C-2 classification for future use and replace it with three tiers based on a business’s hours, traffic and intensity.
The existing C-2A neighborhood commercial designation, which limits hours to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., would remain unchanged. A new C-2B designation would cover moderate retail operations permitted to operate from 6 a.m. to midnight. A new C-2C designation would cover heavy 24-hour retail businesses that generate significant traffic and light pollution.
The C-3 quiet commercial zone, which limits hours to 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the C-4 quiet 24-hour retail zone would also remain unchanged.
The city would stop granting new C-2 zoning upon adoption of the ordinance. Existing C-2 properties would keep their current designation until the property undergoes new construction or changes its use, at which point it would need to be rezoned into one of the new categories.
The ordinance also formally adds the Baker District to the C-1 Central Business District and establishes that C-1 businesses may operate 24 hours a day. Hours of operation were not previously specified for the downtown zone.
Each of the new commercial zones carries its own list of prohibited uses. The C-2B zone would prohibit service stations, convenience stores, car lots, mini storages and hotels or motels. The C-2C zone would prohibit liquor stores, convenience stores, car lots, mini storages and hotels or motels.
Beyond the C-2 changes, the proposed ordinance largely mirrors the city’s existing zoning regulations.
A one-page summary comparing the current and proposed zoning classifications is posted below.
