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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor

Two public hearings on rezoning requests are set for the Clanton City Council meeting on Feb. 27.

The first request, from Maria Pedraza and Mateo Moises, is to change the zoning of 1901 Seventh Street North from R-3 Multi-Family Residential District to B-3 Neighborhood Business District.

The second request is from Jeffrey Howell to rezone some property on U.S. Highway 31 South from R-1 Single Family Residential District to B-2 General Business District.

The council briefly discussed the rezoning requests during a work session on Feb. 23. Chief of Staff Bob Woods said the property owner wants to put a used car dealership on the site and improve the look of his current business since he will have more space. Initially, Howell had considered requesting industrial zoning for future business endeavors, but this zoning would not fit with the zoning in the area. Woods said he had discussed the request with Howell, and the property owner was good with a General Business District zoning in order to be in line with what the city wants to see happen in the area.

Community members will have the opportunity to speak in favor or against the rezoning requests at the Feb. 27 meeting. A vote by the council could be that night, if the usual rules are suspended, or at a future council meeting.

Development and removing blight structures continue to be focuses for Clanton. The old paint center on Highway 31 was demolished earlier this month. Things are progressing for Hampton Inn to locate where the Days Inn was demolished in December. Mayor Jeff Mims said the city would be finalizing the paperwork for selling the property to the hotel developer in the next few weeks.

Architectural plans are also being drawn up for the firing range and training center for law enforcement that the city is working on. Mims said city leadership recently visited a similar facility in Dothan. Funding from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs could be a possibility for the project.

Mims also mentioned in the work session that the economic developer hired in October was no longer working for Clanton.

“His probationary period was about up, and we decided it just didn’t work,” Mims said.

In other developmental updates, Mims said Alabama Power is running a line with broadband capabilities on its poles that could be used by Central Access, if funding is secured to expand its network into Clanton, including city hall and the hospital. Mims said it was going to be a busy year for growth and economic development.

“We are talking to a lot of people,” Mims said.

A water and sewer project is also something the city is working to secure funding for.