By Clint Confehr

Senior Staff Writer

A Columbia woman and a Kirkland businessman want land rezoned north of Chapel Hill so a restaurant may be opened. Last week, they cleared the first hurdle at Marshall County's Courthouse Annex.

Sandra Buttrey and Joe Kelly Scales won a unanimous vote from planning commissioners on Feb. 19. County commissioners will consider the request March 25 to rezone 7.62 acres from an agricultural classification to a commercial zone.

Buttrey and Scales plan to serve breakfast and lunch daily and offer supper on Friday evenings, they told planners. They also hope to make the restaurant a venue for wedding receptions and reunions.

Scales runs Joes's Store where U.S. 31A and 41A merge. He offers lunch there, but says it's getting harder to run a filling station and he indicated a preference to have a business in Marshall County. He lives on the north side of Chapel Hill. The restaurant would be at 6069 Nashville Highway.

Planning Commission Chairman Ray Wakefield asked if Scales and Buttrey plan to serve alcoholic beverages. She replied they'd thought about it, but a beer permit wasn't a necessity.

Area residents expressed concern for traffic and drivers who had been drinking. Planning Commissioner Todd Tietgens noted beer wasn't the issue for planners. County Commissioner Don Ledford, a member of the planning commission, said that decision is made by the beer board. That panel wouldn't consider the issue until after the land is rezoned.

Ledford moved to recommend the rezoning request to county commissioners. Planning Commissioner Ronald Robinson seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.