ZONING Panel rejects industrial request

Without a site plan, neighbors are 'too much at risk,' a panelist said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LIBERTY -- Whether to rezone 90 acres off state Route 304 west of Lewis-Seifert Road from residential to industrial is in the hands of township trustees.
With several dozen township residents in attendance, the township zoning commission voted Wednesday to deny the rezoning request from builder Robert Walley of Liberty and his partners, brothers Aaron and Andy Kish of Hubbard.
Three commission members, Alan Friedkin, Dennis Clouse and Anthony Pilolli, voted to deny the zone change. Commission chairman Michael Anderson and commission member Carole McDonough abstained.
Anderson said he abstained because his family owns adjacent land, and McDonough, who was newly appointed to the commission, said she abstained because she wasn't a member of the panel when it began considering the case.
Commission members heard testimony in the case last month and deferred their vote until Wednesday because they wanted to inspect the site.
The trustees' vote must be unanimous to overturn the zoning commission recommendation, the township zoning code says. A hearing before the trustees will be scheduled within 20 days, said Jim Rodway, township zoning inspector.
Reaction
"I can't see his coming in to have a zone change without a plan, without knowing what you're going to do with the property," Friedkin said, referring to Walley. "Just to change it to an industrial classification without a specific use, I think, is kind of putting the cart before the horse."
Clouse said after the meeting, "To change the zoning from residential to industrial was too drastic a change without the zoning board and the community having a clear understanding as to what the applicant intended to do with the property."
The lack of a plan for the site put neighbors "too much at risk in terms of what might potentially come into that property," he added.
Last month, Walley told commissioners he didn't have a plan for the site, but he suggested he'd like to lure a heavy equipment distributing company to it. Walley declined to comment after commissioners rendered their decision.
"I think all the residents are very pleased that they [commission members] understood that to give a zoning change with no plan was a little irresponsible," said Janet Weisberg of Burning Tree Lane, a leader of the opposition to the zone change. "We feel strongly it should remain residential."
With railroad tracks nearby, residents fear a landfill as a worst-case scenario for the site, Weisberg said. "The protection in Ohio against landfills is residential zoning. Industrial zoning, we feel, is not a strong enough protection," Weisberg explained.
milliken@vindy.com