A road connecting Cherry Farm Lane and Cumberland Trace Road could be constructed as a result of a zone change request Thursday during the City-County Planning Commission meeting.

Spickard Real Estate Holdings applied to rezone about four acres of land between Cherry Farm Lane and Orange Court off Scottsville Road from agriculture, multi-family residential and highway business to just highway business.

The group might one day build a strip center there, which could house businesses such as a bank and restaurant, but plans are preliminary, said Ben Spickard of Spickard Real Estate Holdings.

As part of the zoning change, Spickard met with neighboring property owners and got their consent for an easement, which could pave the way for a street that will run from Cherry Farm Lane to Cumberland Trace Road, providing better access to their properties.

Spickard said he’s driven by that area for years and thought a connecting street would be a good idea.

“It’s something I personally wanted to see done,” he said.

Official plans to build a road have not been filed, but “it gives the staff the ability to insist at some point that it would be built,” said Kevin Brooks, Spickard’s attorney.

Planners agreed that the road is a needed development, relieving traffic congestion along Scottsville and Cumberland Trace roads.

Most traffic complaints concern Scottsville Road and “the biggest complaints are at Cumberland Trace and Mel Browning” Street, planning engineer Mac Yowell said.

“This is big,” said Steve Hunter, executive director of the planning commission. “We’ve got to figure out how to get it built.”

Commissioners unanimously approved the zoning change. They also approved a zoning change for Beech Bend Park, which has been incorrectly zoned for about 37 years.

Beech Bend officials applied to rezone about 228 acres of land from agriculture and general flood plain to highway business and general flood plain. Officials are not making any changes to the park, but wanted to comply with current zoning standards, planner Jonathan Britt said.

“It’s just bringing the property into compliance with our current zoning ordinance ... this is probably a little bit unusual,” he said.

In 1972, officials implemented “blanket zoning” and zoned most properties in that area as agriculture, including Beech Bend. It remained that way until Thursday, when officials approved changing it to highway business due to the inappropriate zoning.

The highway business zoning is better for Beech Bend, Britt said, because it gives the park more uses without the hassle of unnecessary paperwork.

For example, general business zoning typically allows for offices, central business allows for downtown businesses and a highway business zoning paves the way for operations, such as Beech Bend Park.

“In the last year (park officials) came in to rehabilitate buildings or add on and the staff began to discuss rezoning it to highway business to get it legal,” Britt said.