A new business coming to town is usually good news for all, but the rezoning of a lot in the 400 block of North Main has caused not only confusion, but heartache and grief for some.

At one time the lot was owned by First State Bank and was zoned for Auto-Urban Commercial, but was later rezoned to Urban Center so that the Altus Chamber of Commerce could build there. Sometime after that, the Chamber decided not to build in the location, and the lot sat empty for a couple of years. The Chamber gave the property back, and with it was the request to also rezone the property back to what it had been originally.

After the Altus Planning Commission recommended the change, it was approved by the City Council by a vote of 6 to 2 at their July 7 meeting.

At the Oct. 6 meeting of the Altus City Council, council member Rick Henry voiced his disapproval of the move by saying, “Ground has been broken on a new car wash in town. It is not part of our economic development and the owner lives out-of-town. With all the efforts we’ve taken to beautify the town, this is a failure of the planning commission. That’s why I voted against it. It was zoned properly and now we have this car wash going in.”

In a statement made by Planning Commission member Carole Atkinson in an effort to clear the confusion on the matter, Atkinson reminded all that the Planning Commission is a “recommending” board only, and that it was the Council that made the change, with the Commission only making the recommendation.

Atkinson also said that members of the Planning Commission take all zoning requests seriously and study all sides related to that request before a recommendation to the council, and noted that this item was rezoning item, not an item on how the land was to be used.

At this week’s Council meeting Henry told the Council that a letter had been sent out on this matter misquoting him and that it had caused a lot of heartache and grief.

Since the Planning Commission made the recommendation, four members’ terms came up expiring, and Mayor T.L. Gramling brought them up for reappointment before the Council. At the meeting, only six councilmen were present, with Don Johnson, Perry Shelton and Peggy Risinger voting to keep Planning Commission members Winston Higgs, Linda Buxton, Shannon Preston and Atkinson.

Councilmen Rick Henry, Jack Smiley and Scot Simco all voted no. Gramling refused to break the tie.

Since that time, Planning Commission member Gerald Smith has resigned. The remaining planning commission member is Larry McLaughlin.

Because the tie was not broken, replacement members for the commission will have to appointed, and at some point prospective members will have to be found and brought before the Council for approval.