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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Ellison Memorial Funeral Home received site plan approval for an expansion from the City of Clanton Planning Commission on March 14.

The expansion will add a crematorium to the business.

Clanton Mayor Jeff Mims asked if the building plan had a sprinkler system. Building inspector Gene Martin said the building size did not require it to have a sprinkler system.

The planning commission also granted a request from the city of Clanton to subdivide its property at 200 Big M Boulevard. One half is where Hampton Inn will be built eventually. The city wants to divide the property now to be able to market the other half to developers.

A rezoning request was denied for a property on Fourth Avenue N. The house has been used as a duplex for several years as 1810 Fourth Avenue and 1810 ½ Fourth Avenue.

“It looks like a house, but it’s being used as a duplex,” Martin said.

He said the building does not meet the building code standards for a duplex. The main requirement being a firewall between the two homes.

Property owner Craig Scott had requested rezoning the property from R-1 Single Family Residential to R-2 Single Family/ Two Family Residential to put it in the proper zoning before he sold the property. Real estate agent Diane Knight was present on Scott’s behalf.  In discussion, the planning commission said the property could still be sold as a single unit. Martin also said the handrails on the porch needed to be upgraded to be ADA compliant.

The planning commission decided to continue discussing updates to the zoning ordinance before voting on the changes. A work session may be called to continue discussing needed changes. One likely change would be increasing the size of accessory buildings that are allowed on residential properties.