Trustees turn down request by developer for zoning change

There is no indication what the developer will do with the land.
MINERAL RIDGE -- Neighbors got their way Tuesday as Weathersfield Township trustees unanimously rejected a zone change affecting 68 acres.
Dietlew Properties Inc. applied for the zone change, which was approved by the township zoning commission April 14.
On April 15, however, the township zoning appeals board denied a variance request to allow 17 four-plexes to be built on the property fronting on County Line Road.
A second issue was a request of the township zoning commission for a change of Residential A and R-B (single-family dwellings) to Residential C (multifamily dwellings) for the proposed new developers of Country Meadows Estates off County Line Road. The proposal was for a planned community that features duplex condominiums and homes valued at more than $100,000.
Township administrator David Pugh said the neighbors are concerned that apartments might be built on the land if rezoned to Residential C.
Pugh said Paul M. Dieter of Dietlew didn't indicate what action he might take with the rejected zone change.
Trustee John Vogel said he had met with residents of County Meadows Estates and other neighbors about the changes.
Ethics question
Meanwhile, Vogel sent a copy of a letter from fellow trustees James Stoddard and Fred Bobovnyk to the Ohio Ethics Commission in Columbus, asking the commission to investigate what they believe is Vogel's misuse of his official position.
Their letter to the commission states: "We are under the impression, as is the chairman of the township zoning board, that a township trustee, who must make a decision on a zoning issue, must not make a decision for or against that issue which will come before him or her prior to an open meeting of the board of trustees."
Township Solicitor William Roux said Tuesday that he had just received a copy of a letter from Vogel on Monday on this issue, and had not yet had time to review it.
Roux said that whether there is an ethics violation is a decision to be made by the OEC.
Stoddard and Bobovnyk wrote to the OEC that Vogel attended a public meeting of the township zoning board in February and gave sworn testimony that he was against a proposed request, when the Seventh-day Adventist Church requested a zone change from residential to commercial.
Vogel has said he spoke as a trustee at that meeting to voice concerns over the proposal, which was ultimately denied by the zoning appeals board.