POLAND Council overturns Walgreens' variance request

The issue may be decided in court.
THE VINDICATOR, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- The pendulum between accepting or denying Walgreens has swung back to denial with a move by village council.
Earlier this year, the national drugstore retailer submitted plans to the village planning commission for a building at McKinley Way (U.S. Route 224) and North Main Street (state Route 170). The area is home to a pet grooming store, a coin-operated laundry and a pizza shop.
Rejected request
Council in a 4-2 vote Tuesday night rejected a variance request by the company. Joe Mazur and Christine Yash were the only council members who voted in favor of allowing the variance to go forward.
Walgreens officials were unavailable to comment.
Mazur said the building looks like a nice two-story facility that would have the appearance of four small store fronts from the outside. He said the store would be the economic catalyst the village needs.
"I think this is a big project that would help our downtown area. If we allow things to continue the way they are going, the downtown will become stagnant and decay," he said. "It was a mistake to turn this down."
The area where the proposed store would go is zoned village center commercial with a 4,000-square-foot maximum for retail businesses. Walgreens wants to put up a building nearly four times the maximum square footage. To put the store at that site, Walgreens would need the variance or a complete zone change.
Council's vote overturns a decision by the zoning appeals board in May granting the variance to the store. The appeals board voted 4-1 to allow the variance.
Since village council normally has no input in variance requests, the appeals board approval should have settled the matter and allowed Walgreens to begin building.
Emergency ordinance
Council, however, one day before Walgreens made its case to the appeals board, passed an emergency ordinance stating that any decision made by the zoning appeals board regarding Walgreens would have to be approved by council.
Councilman Bob Limmer said council, in making its decision, had to consider more than 900 signatures on petitions against Walgreens submitted by residents. The issue, he said, could possibly go to court.
"This should be it, essentially, unless they [Walgreens] want to go to court," he said. "Walgreens has a right to go to court, but we feel we have sufficient legal backup to show what we did is legal."
A representative of the Ohio Attorney General's Office has said ordinances tailored to specific businesses have a hard time standing up in court.
jgoodwin@vindy.com