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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Clanton City Council approved a rezoning request for 1605 Seventh St. N from residential (R3) to business (B2) during a meeting on July 8.

After the required public hearing portion of the meeting, the Council voted unanimously to suspend the rules in order to vote on the matter during the same meeting.

The Planning Commission had recommended the rezoning because all of the surrounding property along Seventh Street had already been changed to B2, and this property should have been changed with the rest.

No objections to the rezoning were voiced during the public hearing.

The location had formerly been a Sears Hometown Store. The property owner is planning on selling the property.

Potential buyers are hoping to establish a laundromat at the site.

Mayor Billy Joe Driver said the water and sewer pipes for the site would need to be replaced with larger ones to accommodate such a facility.

“For a laundromat, a three-quarter inch meter is not large enough, and a four-inch (wide) sewer line is probably not big enough,” Driver said. “We are doing this with the understanding that are going to have to be upgraded.”

In order for a laundromat to be opened on the site, the new property owners would be required to request a special exception from the Board of Adjustment and Appeals.

Building inspector Gene Martin said this was a requirement for any laundromat that wanted to locate near residential areas. This requirement is because laundromats are usually open 24 hours a day.

“If you have public sentiment against it, then it would be voiced … and maybe operating hours could be changed,” Martin said.

Also during the meeting, the Council:

• Received notification that the Dollar General nearing completion on Highway 22/ Fourth Avenue has applied for a beer and wine sales license. Driver said consideration for approval would be in two weeks.
• Approved paying a bill for a tractor for $5,765.
• Approved paying $20,000 to the company putting in the sprinkler system for the future physical therapy location in Park Plaza. Driver said the project was more than halfway finished, and this payment was just a portion of the entire cost.
• Approved the Clanton Police Chief to attend a conference.
• Approved allowing the police department to hire a part-time housekeeper to clean up to 10 hours a week.