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Food pantry, thrift shop to face hearing Monday Plans may have hit a snag for a church hoping to turn the former Southern Outdoors nursery and garden center on East Robert Toombs into a facility to feed and clothe some of Wilkes County's poor. The property has apparently never been rezoned for commercial use, and the Washington Planning Commission will have to make a recommendation to the city council whether or not to rezone the property to C-3. It has been indicated that the Commission will recommend that the property not be rezoned. A hearing will be held at City Hall Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. to consider the issue. The garden center, under various owners, has operated as a non-conforming property for decades, as has the auto repair shop across the street. As a non-conforming property, the property could be used only as a nursery or garden center, but any other use would require a change in zoning. The property in question is surrounded largely by homes and the elementary school, and homeowners have expressed opposition to the zoning change, saying that zoning the non-conforming lot commercial would open the door for any kind of business to operate there. If the property were to be zoned C-3, the residents say, they could find themselves next door to a liquor store or other high-traffic business that would damage their property values. They are also concerned that a thrift shop in that location would quickly become cluttered with donations dropped off. Others point out that there are several larger-scale church-based food pantries already operating in or near the city. Other observers of the controversy point out that property owners James and Margaret Jones have long sought rezoning of that property and one adjoining, and that they suspect that the food ministry might soon give way to another, far more intrusive business. Rev. Gail Seibert says that their food ministry generally feeds fewer than a dozen people a week from the basement of the First United Methodist Church, but with more room the ministry could grow to include a thrift shop. "James and Margaret Jones have graciously offered us the use of these two buildings for free," she said. "They wanted to do something to help the community." And, she says, she understands the concerns that neighbors have, but, she says, "We love Washington, too, and we would keep the place looking nice and uncluttered." She says that there is a lot of gossip and fear about "less-than-desirable" people that residents say would be coming into the middleclass residential area, but she feels that such fears are ungrounded. "We'll only be open on Tuesdays, from 9 to 2, and we won't allow clothes to be dropped off at other times. With more volunteers, we might open one other day, but at only ten or so people a week, it's not a large-scale thing."
The zoning hearing will be held January 29 at 4 p.m. at City Hall.
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