DUNCAN – Zoning issues dominated the Duncan City Council’s agenda March 25, as the council rezoned three properties near the intersection of Elk Avenue and the State Highway 7 bypass.
The council voted 4-1 to rezone the property in the southeast quadrant of Elk and the bypass from a multifamily residential district to a commercial district. In another 4-1 split, the council rezoned the property at the northwest corner of the intersection from an agricultural district to a commercial district.
The council also voted 3-1, with Mayor Robert Armstrong abstaining, to rezone the property at the intersection’s northeast corner from an agricultural district to a mix of commercial and agricultural districts.
Councilman Jimmy Peters voted against all three zoning changes.
“The bottom line is, I had more people reach out against it,” he said in a short interview after the meeting.
Accommodating future growth Some people said the zoning changes would put Duncan in a better position to accommodate future growth.
“Just imagine what’s going to be happening to the north and south of Elk,” said Duncan resident Randy Wilson. “There’s going to be a lot of streets, a lot of new residential homes. And what comes with all this new commercial and residential? That’s the jobs.”
But other people said they were concerned that developing the area around Elk and the bypass would harm businesses along U.S. Highway 81.
“I want to see a place that my children come back to,” said Duncan resident David Leonard. “I want to see that. But I also don’t want to punish our businesses that are on 81 for the sake of future potential development.
Business owner Kale Murphree said he worried that existing businesses would lose customers if the area around Elk and the bypass were opened to future development.
“I am for progressing forward,” he said. “I just want to do it the right way, and I don’t want to do it to the det riment of our businesses that have already invested in Duncan and will be here for the long haul.”
Community Development Director Nate Schacht said he respected opponents’ concerns about the potential impact on existing businesses. But he added that Duncan officials have to start thinking of the bypass and the streets that intersect with it as gateways to the rest of the city.
“Whether it’s Elk and the bypass, Plato and the bypass, Beech and the bypass – whatever that might be,” Schacht said. “We have to bring people in.”