When the Gerald Area Ambulance District (GAAD) moved to their new building, the building they vacated was put up for sale. 

The property was originally part of an entire city block owned by the American Legion Club. When that group disbanded, they most of the land to the City of Gerald for what is now Legion Park. 

A parcel in the southeast corner of the block was given to what was then the Gerald Volunteer Fire Department. In 1973, a second parcel in the southwest corner was given to what was then the newly formed Gerald Area Ambulance Association. 

When a Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) was established by the city in the 1980s, that group gave a zoning designation to every property in the city limits. The ambulance property was zoned C-2, Public/Non-Profit. 

Before selling the property, the GAAD requested rezoning the property for a split use. They asked the zoning be changed to R-1,Residential single-family use and also C-1, Commericial use. They also submitted a $250 non-refundable fee to process the request.

There is no option in the current city codes to grant a request for dual zoning, and the Board of Aldermen delayed acting on the issue before the property changed hands. 

The new owners, MK Holdings, has again made a request to rezone the property to R-1. The P&Z had been prepared to hear their request at their meeting Tuesday night, July 2. 

Tuesday morning, City Clerk Jane Hungler, notified P&Z members that the rezoning application was found to be deficient and lacking required documentation. 

The rezoning application was submitted to the city June 18. “The city has 21 from receipt to approve, disapprove, modify or conditionally approve the application,” according to Hungler. She said that she had already received some of the requested documentation, but would not have time to process all the documents before Tuesday’s night meeting. The document’s received Tuesday included payment of another $250 processing fee, this time submitted by MK Holdings.

Hungler said that because of the complexity of the situation, she wanted to take the additional time to be sure all documentation was complete and accurate. 

The request will be carried to the Aug. 6 meeting of P&Z. If approved it will go before the Board of Aldermen at their Aug. 8 meeting.