Rezoning cleared the way Tuesday for a new business and an expansion of an existing one in the northeast part of Moultrie.

Moultrie City Council approved rezoning 1.7 acres on Veterans Parkway for Greg Yarbrough and 0.4 acres on Rowland Drive near Fourth Avenue Northeast for Vijay Bairi.

Daniel Parrish, director of the city’s planning department, told the council Yarbrough plans to build a pharmacy on the site at 640 Veterans Parkway North, immediately north of Lowe’s. That site was formerly zoned Agricultural but was changed Tuesday to C-3 Commercial.

Parrish said Bairi operates a convenience store on the corner of Rowland Drive and Fourth Avenue. About a year ago, he got the city to rezone property he owns adjacent to the store on Fourth Avenue, Parrish said, and on Tuesday he sought and got a zoning change for property adjacent to both of those lots on Rowland Drive.

The result is a larger area of land where Parrish said Bairi plans to build a larger convenience store. The larger area of land was necessary to meet distance requirements from a church that is across the street.

Both decisions were preceded by public hearings at which no one but Parrish spoke.

In other action, the council heard from three residents who were concerned about their utility bills. One said hers had risen from $250 per month to more than $400; another, who lives in an apartment, said hers rose from $145 to $247; and the third said hers was a constant $380 per month, even though she lives in an apartment.

The only one of the three who brought her bill showed it to City Manager Mike Scott, who noted that her consumption was virtually the same as a year ago. The increase, he said, was probably due to the rising wholesale cost of electricity.

“It’s like gasoline,” Scott said. “It goes up and down every day.” He said the wholesale cost has doubled since last year.

Nonetheless, he promised to investigate to see if that was really the cause.

Also on Tuesday, the council:

• Approved a request from T-L Irrigation and Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition for approval to erect a permanent 20-by-40-foot steel building on property the Expo leases from the city.

• Approved a software upgrade for the automatic meter system used by the utilities department.