FOLEY - The city of Foley passed an ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance where gas stations are concerned. The vote met with only one opposition from councilmember Charlie Ebert III.

B2 zoning, which previously allowed gas stations by right, will now allow them on appeal, meaning developers will have to go through the Board of Adjustments if they wish to place a gas station upon a B2 zoned area.

“There’s a lot of B2 zoning on Highway 98 in strategic locations for gas stations, but we have some people looking to rezone and where they want to rezone we do not want to approve a zone that would allow gas stations,” said Community Development Director Miriam Boutwell.

B1A zoning permits gas stations without an appeal. This type of zoning is primarily found going north to south as opposed to east to west. Highway 20 and the Foley Beach Express have abundant B1A zoning, but councilmember Ebert states it’s important to focus on the downtown area, which he says needs more gas stations.

Councilmember and member of the planning commission Ralph Hellmich said in the past the request to rezone to a B2 has largely been denied due to its inclusion of gas stations. He believes with the change to appeal it will allow more B2 zones in the future.

“We’ve had several B2 applications come forward over the years that were very applicable for B2, but because it had gas stations in there the neighbors turned out and protested, showing large opposition, and the application was shot down,” he said. “In my opinion there was never going to be a gas station on the location because it didn’t make sense to put one there, but because gas stations are allowed in B2 it was opposed. This is a good way for the planning commission to address this. Zoning to B2 doesn’t mean you can’t have a gas station; you’re just going to have to go through the appeal process.”

For more on the city of Foley, check out their website at https://cityoffoley.org.