Photo by Blake RasmussenAfter a back-and-forth discussion that at times grew philosophical, a split Round Rock City Council sided with residents rather than a local auto body shop in a battle over rezoning a plot of land on Clark Street.
The council voted 5-2 to deny the request of Excellence Auto Body to rezone about 0.98 acres located south of 1307 Clark St. and just off of Sam Bass Road from single-family residential to office, with only council members George White and Joe Clifford favoring the rezoning.
"It's almost like the industrial part of it is invading [a residential area]," Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Salinas said. "I think what [the neighborhood] wants to be is a historical remnant of what Round Rock once was."
Clifford, however, saw the rezoning to a residential office designation as a buffer between the neighborhood and the light industrial zoning nearby.
