Commissioners approve Mounts rezone, deny Roach request and grant Farr variance

The Walker County Board of Commissioners heard three land-use appeals and took final action on each. The board followed the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation to approve Richard Mounts’ rezone of property at 1412 Happy Valley Road from C-1 to R-3; the motion passed unanimously.

For the Roach family’s petition to rezone 3791 Round Pond Road from A-1 (agriculture) to R-A (residential agriculture), the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended denial. Several neighbors, including Kyla Holland and Ken Carson, told the board the parcel is a heavily wooded buffer with drainage and safety concerns and said the change would alter the neighborhood’s low-density character. After discussion of the comprehensive plan and local topography, the board voted unanimously to deny the Roachs’ request.

Krista Farr requested a variance to move her mother’s double-wide mobile home onto three acres she owns (the remainder of a 27-acre tract is in probate). Farr said the home had been partly sited on a different property and that moving it would require a new septic system; she had completed a soil test and asked for expedited consideration because her mother is elderly. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval and the board approved the variance unanimously.

Chair Angela Teens told petitioners that the board would make decisions on the items presented that night and that applicants should remain if they wished to hear the outcomes.