Although DeKalb residents in the Tilton Park subdivision don’t oppose the new radio station slated for 2201 N. First Street, they worry about how rezoning might change the residental character of their neighborhood.

“Nobody – the 40 people that signed the petition – was against a radio station. We didn’t want B-3 zoning,” said Tilton Park resident Dennis Benson. “We didn’t want a factory or a drive-in theater coming in there later.”

The property, located just outside DeKalb’s city limits, was zoned for limited retail uses by the county as B-1. This zoning currently does not include radio stations, so the county rezoned the property to B-3, which includes radio stations. Both B-1 and B-3 zoning allow bars, restaurants, bookstores and other retail outlets, but the main difference that is the B-3 includes gas stations.

Tilton Park resident Jocelyn Green said neighborhood residents fear the radio station would serve as a precedent to other businesses seeking a change in zoning before opening in the area. Green said residents imagined arguments before the DeKalb County Board and City Council such as, “This (zone) is B-3. Why can’t the next one be B-3? And all of a sudden we have a shopping center here.”

Residents also worry if the radio station fails that the owners of the property, Stanley and Virginia Knetsch of DeKalb, would sell or lease the property, and a liquor or convenience store would open in the space instead. Such a store would be eligible to open in either zone.

The Knetschs recently promised the residents that they would have the zoning returned to B-1 if the county would amend B-1 zoning to include radio stations.

Although the Knetschs’ words are not legally enforceable, “the whole neighborhood is happy with the promise,” Green said.

Benson said he doubts that the Knetschs or the county board would go back on their promise to amend the zoning.

The Knetschs’ daughter, Tana, holds the Federal Communication Commission license for the new radio station. She hopes to have the station on the air by the end of the year.