BOARDMAN Panel denies request to rezone W. Reserve
A zoning board of appeals meeting will be held Wednesday night.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- The issue of building in undeveloped areas of the township continues to provoke controversy.
The township zoning commission recently denied a request to rezone a portion of Western Reserve Road from agricultural to one residential and three business districts.
Now, a separate request for a permit to build homes on undeveloped land along the road is going before the township zoning board of appeals, with opposition from residents.
Brian Angelilli of Angelilli Builders Inc. of Poland submitted the recently rejected request to rezone a section of the road between Hitchcock Road and Tippecanoe Road. In a letter to township officials, Angelilli said he wanted to put in retail and office buildings. He called the area the township's next growth area.
Township zoning inspector Darren Crivelli said the change would go against the township's land use plan, which is designed to regulate development in the township.
Before property can be rezoned, the property owner must obtain three levels of approval -- that of the Mahoning County Planning Commission, the township zoning commission and township trustees, in that order. The county planning commission did approve the Angelilli request before it was rejected by the zoning commission.
Now the issue will go before township trustees.
"Until [the matter] comes to me, I have to keep an open mind," said Trustee Tom Costello. "The only way trustees can overturn the zoning commission is by unanimous vote. I really don't see that happening."
Trustees have not set a date to vote on the matter.
In another matter, Mill Creek Homes Ltd., on behalf of James R. Fornwalt of Hitchcock Road, has asked to build 22 homes along Hitchcock Road between Deer Run Drive and Squirrel Hill Drive. The township board of zoning appeals will hold a hearing on the request 7 p.m. Wednesday at the township government center on Market Street.
Crivelli said the plans call for a "planned unit development" in an area currently zoned for only single-family homes. Such requests, he said, require conditional use permits and must go before the board of zoning appeals.
The new housing request has caused some residents to circulate a flier opposing the project. The flier urges residents in the area of the proposed development to attend Wednesday's meeting.
The flier lists a number of reasons why residents should be opposed to the development, including potential flooding problems from rain water rushing into basements after the new homes are in place. The township was recently hit with large amounts of flooding and many residents blame the problems on over-development.
jgoodwin@vindy.com