Development moratorium for certain portions of Marion being lifted

The moratorium on certain types of developments along some of the busiest commercial corridors in Marion is being lifted – with one exception. A moratorium will continue until Oct. 1 for the development of new gas stations along the Tower Terrace Road corridor, the Marion City Council decided at its regular meeting June 19. The moratorium pertained to certain types of commercial development along portions of Tower Terrace Road, Highway 13, and the Central Corridor business district in Marion while the city undertook an extensive review of its comprehensive master plan, which has now been updated. It was originally imposed in November 2023 and extended for six months in November 2024 as work on the city's comprehensive plan continued. In council documents, city officials said the moratorium was intended “to strike a balance between economic progress and safeguarding the well-being of communities and the environment, ultimately promoting responsible and sustainable development practices.” Marion Mayor Nick AbouAssaly clarified the moratorium’s intent when it was first approved. “It’s been misperceived as a permanent decision on certain types of businesses and where they can go,” Mr. AbouAssaly said in November 2023. “The moratorium is simply a halt on new projects during a limited period of time. It’s not changing anything in the law. It’s just allowing us to consider specific uses and if any adjustments need to be made to the application of the zoning code when it comes to certain uses in particular areas.” Most of the moratorium’s provisions are expiring as of July 1. But the moratorium on gas stations on Tower Terrace Road is being continued until Oct. 1, city manager Ryan Waller said, because the council felt that particular provision needed “a little bit more scrutiny.” “The concern (of) the council is the fact that Tower Terrace, specifically the new section of Tower Terrace, will butt up against residential neighborhoods,” Mr. Waller said. “The council is very desirous to allow for, and they recognize the need for, a gas station along that corridor. The feedback that we heard from the City Council is, let's spend a little bit of extra time so that we can make sure that the regulations that ultimately get put in place along Tower Terrace will allow for gas stations, but in a way that minimizes any impact to the neighborhoods.” Concerns have been raised at recent meetings and open houses about the construction of gas stations, or convenience stores, along the already-developed portions of Tower Terrace Road. Many of those concerns have revolved around lighting, noise and traffic from a larger-scale gas station or convenience store. “The council's discussion was more about trying to make sure that it's the right size to minimize the impact,” Mr. Waller said. “Our direction is clear on the number of pumps and the canopy size. It's now just the last little detail – where along Tower Terrace would (a gas station) be most appropriate? “The mayor and I have had a number of conversations,” Mr. Waller added, “and what he said was ‘99.9% of the moratorium work is done, the other .1% is the gas station (question) along Tower Terrace.’” The moratorium on Tower Terrace Road gas stations could be lifted before Oct. 1, Mr. Waller said. It’ll remain in place only until the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission develops a recommendation on modifying city code regarding the issue and forwards that recommendation to the city council for consideration. The remaining portions of the moratorium are now being officially lifted, Mr. Waller added. “We want the developers to come in and develop their product, but we also want to be cognizant that we do get one shot at doing it right,” Mr. Waller said. “We want to make sure that it's being done consistent with the vision of the community. Our Comprehensive Master Plan process was a very engaged process, with a lot of open houses and input from the community, so we're pretty confident on what the community wants going forward. Now we've got the rules in place, and we're just going to continue to work off the rest of the recommendations from the master plan.”