DAPHNE, Ala. — The city council meeting Monday brought many residents from the Park City area to stand behind their nearly 150-signature petition denouncing the proposed rezoning of 13 acres east of U.S. Highway 98 and south of Park Drive.

One representative of the Park City Community Association said he didn’t want apartments overlooking his back yard and causing traffic problems.

Another resident feared a water pressure problem. She said that the water pressure is already too low for her refrigerator to make ice at times. The increased population will only worsen the problem, she said.

David Dill of Engineering Development Services requested that the area be rezoned from a general business zone to a high-density multifamily district. Dill proposed 154 units on the parcel.

A 1-acre section at the southeast end of the parcel is a wetland area and is currently zoned as high-density single family. Dill also wanted this portion rezoned because the city’s community development director, Bill Eady, doesn’t recommend split-zoned projects.

“Since this area is mostly wetlands, we plan no units for it and will probably use it as a buffer,” Dill said.

Another issue of public concern was the rezoning of 1410 Main St. from a high-density single-family zone to a local business zone.

Owners of the property plan to have an art gallery there, while neighbors say that traffic and parking would cause a problem.

Neighbors also feared bigger businesses coming in if the art gallery failed, but council members assured them that an ordinance protects against that by requiring unchanged areas to revert back to their previous zoning after on year.

City leaders will vote on the Park City and Main Street issues at the Jan. 22 council meeting.

A proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in most areas of the city received only favorable public participation. The ordinance includes that pool halls and bars should allow smoking, with stricter guidelines for restaurants and city property. Of Foley’s smoking law, the Ordinance Committee had liked that bars (defined by food incidental to alcohol) may remain smoking establishments.

Council members — except for John Lake, who cast the lone dissenting vote — decided to hold a second public hearing on the ordinance at the Jan. 22 meeting so that restaurant employees can give input. The Louisiana State University versus Ohio State University football game caused a busy night for restaurants during Monday’s public hearing. Lake voted against the alternative hearing, citing the city was catering to business interests.

The vote on a smoking ban will take place Feb. 6.