By Morgan Bryce
Staff Reporter

The Opelika Planning Commission granted preliminary and final plat approval for the Courthouse Annex Project during its meeting last week.
The project, a new, three-level, 36,000-sq. ft. addition to the Lee County Courthouse, will cost $9.9 million to construct and two years to complete, and replaces a section of the courthouse that once housed the city’s jail and sheriff office.
The commission also granted a conditional use request for the construction of a new convenience store on Columbus Parkway.
In other business, the commission:
– granted preliminary and final plat approval for three lots in the Morris Family Properties Subdivision, located at 2707 Rocky Brook and 3000 Hickory lanes
– granted preliminary and final plat approval for two lots in the Broadway-Samford Subdivision, located at 23 Samford Ave.
– granted a re-subdivision of two lots in the Roy Riddle Subdivision, located at 3138 Lee Road 391
– granted preliminary and final plat approval for two lots in the Newnan Subdivision, located at the 1400 block of Columbus Parkway
– tabled a final plat approval request for 43 lots in the Springs at Mill Lakes Subdivision, located at the 2800 block of Highway 280
– granted a conditional use request for the development of an automobile sales lot at 305 2nd Ave.
– approved a rezoning request and amendment to the 2030 comprehensive plan map for 28.8 acres of land located at 2712 S. Uniroyal Road
– approved a rezoning request and amendment to the 2030 comprehensive plan map for 12.2 acres of land located at 221 Veterans Parkway
– reviewed sketch plans for land developments located at the 700 block of Ski Spray Point, 1009 West Point Parkway and land along Lee Road 177.