ZC 337 rezone at 4545 E. Court St.

The Hair Cutz owner said her father opened the shop in 1989 and the family has invested nearly four decades in Burton; she asked for thoughtful consideration before a decision that could erase the business.

He urged rejection of the rezone to protect the Master Plan, Gilkey Creek drainage, and the environment, and suggested any future site plan require landscaping protections and a letter of acknowledgement.

A barber at Hair Cutz for nearly 40 years of operation, he called the shop a 'community living room' and warned about fuel tanks near residents' well water and the creek, asking the commission to vote no on the rezoning.

A Court Street resident since 1955, she relies on well water and strongly urged rejection of the rezoning, noting homes and subdivisions surround the business strip.

A CMP Real Estate Group commercial broker said the intent is not a gas station but added uses like a drive-thru and vet clinic, noting the neighboring parcel is already C-2 and the small parcel may not fit a station.

From a well-water neighborhood near Davison Road, she argued C-1 serves the community better and that once rezoned C-2, a gas station becomes inevitable — citing seven existing stations on Belsay Road alone.

She opposed demolishing existing businesses, citing roughly 130 gas stations already in and around Burton versus a population of about 29,500, and flagged long-term well-water liability if a station is built.

A Hair Cutz customer on East Court Street within the well-water area, she asked why another gas station is needed when there seems to be one on every corner.

A lifelong Burton resident, she said rezoning risks losing treasured core businesses and would bring more activity to nearby neighborhoods; she asked the commission to deny it.

She echoed prior speakers, asking why so many gas stations are being built so close together that you could walk between them.

A Hair Cutz stylist since 2020 who got her first haircut there at age three, she urged the commission to turn down the proposal for the sake of small businesses citywide.

Silvia Ciampichini's guardian, he said he came simply to support the opposition unconditionally.

A young child who took the mic asked simply why another gas station is needed when the city already has so many.