Fremont creates business district
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on November 23, 2012 1:46 PM
FREMONT -- The Fremont Town Board created a new community business district at its Tuesday meeting. The district will encompass several types of businesses, from barber shops to food trucks.
The new zoning code came about after Danny Wooten requested to operate a hot dog and ice cream stand at 402 S. Sycamore St. -- an area that had been zoned for residential use only.
Wooten's subsequent request to have his property rezoned as community business district was also approved, along with property at 400 S. Sycamore and 106 E. Branch streets.
The Town Board and Planning Board considered including food stands as an acceptable use for R6 residentially zoned property at its October meeting, but a tie-breaking vote cast by Mayor Darron Flowers denied the new use, which would affect all property in the town zoned R6 residential.
The Planning Board suggested creating a new district, which was presented Tuesday to include the following uses:
* Mobile or temporary businesses
* Restaurants without alcohol sales
* Food and grocery stores
* Convenience stores without gasoline sales
* Beauty and barber shops
* Civic clubs and organizations
* Open farmers markets
The creation of the new district is intended to provide for development of light impact businesses in Fremont that will protect the health and welfare of the town's citizens. Community businesses must not open before 6 a.m. and cannot remain open past 10 p.m.
No one spoke on the measure during either public hearing.
Both the decision to create the new district and to grant Wooten's rezoning request were approved unanimously by the board, although Mayor Darron Flowers was not present at the meeting.
Other business at the meeting included:
* The approval to apply application to the N.C. Rural Center for a building reuse project downtown for an entrepreneur that plans to open up a distillery
* Discussion of how best to find equilibrium between the town's general fund balance and utility fund balance
* The approval of a resolution encouraging the General Assembly to restore transitional payments to local governments to help ease budgetary strain on municipalities dating back to when the state discontinued reimbursements to local government in 2002
* The approval of town staff members to begin exploring the possibility of contracting with a single contractor to dig graves at the town cemetery
* Moving the December board meeting to Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
* Announcement that the next Fremont Small Towns Economic Prosperity program meeting will be Nov. 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
The board also met in closed session to discuss litigation and property acquisition.