FM lease document OK’d, zoning change needs update

First Monday business topped the Canton Council agenda last week.

First up was a public hearing on “changing the uses and attributes of the First Monday Business zoning classification.”

“Everybody has a picture in their mind of what First Monday is,” City Manager Lonny Cluck said. “The purpose of these changes is so that we all agree what that picture is.”

The changes would modify the 1985 zoning ordinance to allow temporary RV parking no more than 10 days per calendar month and for special events and designate when First Monday vendors can sell their wares.

Business owner Reagan Sumner, whose family operates Sumner Properties at 176 N. Trades Day Blvd., asked about legally non-confirming uses and if that designation stayed with property when it sold.

The answer is yes as long as the use is legally non-confirming, not interrupted for more than a year and isn’t destroyed by some disaster.

The Mountain and Old Mill Marketplace owner Debbie Davis to also talk about non-conforming uses. She said she believes most of the buildings on The Mountain were legally non-complying because they had been built prior to 1997.

Mayor pro tem Shawn Stewart expressed concern about the safety of The Mountain’s multiple bed and breakfast facilities.  “B and B customers have an expectation of safety,” he said. 

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