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The Stanly County Board of Commissioners denied a rezoning request for a plot of land on Harmony Road in the Porter area.

Martha Ingold, owner of a 4.2-acre tract on Harmony Road, asked for commissioners to rezone the land from residential/agricultural (R/A) to R-40.

The board voted 6-1 to deny the request, with Peter Asciutto voting against the motion. Later in the meeting, Asciutto said he voted against because the board “rushed through the whole thing about the zoning change.” He said he felt the case should be “grandfathered in” and it would not set a precedent.

Vice Chair Mike Barbee disagreed, saying Ingold had nieces and nephews “that you could leave the land to.” He said approving the request would set a precedent for other requests.

Asciutto referred to the board’s recent decision to require a three-acre minimum lot size for plots of land zoned R/A which are designated as being in the rural preservation area by the county’s current land use plan. The 4.2-acre lot in question meets both criteria, the reason Ingold sought to have it rezoned.

Commissioners followed the recommendation of the county’s planning board, which voted 5-2 to deny the request. Concerns of the planning board included the size of the three lots, stormwater runoff and septic systems, along with “setting a precedent for other rezoning cases,” according to the meeting’s agenda packet.

Ingold and her sister-in-law, Gina Smith, spoke in favor of the rezoning, while several residents, including some whose properties adjoin the lot, spoke against it.