POLAND Business owner sues over zoning issue
The business owners have been unfairly treated, the suit says.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- A township man says the selective zoning enforcement practiced by township officials has caused his business and family life enough grief to warrant $5 million in compensation.
Leo Day Jr. is taking up the lawsuit filed by his mother, Bertha, who is deceased. The lawsuit involves the Day family business, Eagle Reddie Mix Concrete on Dobbins Road.
The suit, filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, says Day wanted to build a detached accessory building on the Dobbins Road property. The additional building, the suit said, would allow the concrete business to operate during the winter and make the business more efficient during warmer times of the year.
Day said township zoning officials refused to accept his request for a variance for the building. He said he was told that before a variance could be considered he would need written consent of all adjoining property owners.
Township's response: Township zoning officials said Day must have misunderstood the process. They say written consent is not needed, but a list of all neighboring land owners must be given to officials so that those land owners can be informed of the request.
Robert Monus, zoning inspector, said the concrete business is in an area zoned for agriculture and therefore permitted to erect accessory buildings up to 1,000 square feet.
Monus said Day should have applied for a conditional-use permit if the building would exceed the 1,000-square-foot limit. The township is in the process of revising the zoning code, but the regulations applied to the Day request fall under the old ordinance.
"I do not discourage, in fact I encourage, people to seek conditional-use permits," Monus said. "Most of our conditional-use permits are for accessory buildings."
Another contention: Day also contends in the lawsuit that township officials permitted one of his neighbors to build and maintain a building identical to the building for which the family requested a variance without any consent from neighboring landowners. The suit says that is selective enforcement of the zoning code.
Monus said he does remember discussing the proposed building with a member of the Day family, but he refused to comment further because of the lawsuit.
Neither Day nor his attorney, Alan Belkin of Cleveland, returned calls.
jgoodwin@vindy.com