Poland panel sets vote on apartments zoning

By Denise Dick

The commission will make a recommendation to council, which will make the decision.

POLAND — The village planning commission at a meeting next month will decide the fate of a zone-change request to allow upscale apartment buildings on East McKinley Way.

The planning commission will meet at 7 p.m. June 23 in village hall.

“The vote will happen that night,” said J. Michael Thompson, commission chairman.

Commission members have conducted two meetings on the request from Singer Homes to change the zoning on the 2.5-acre parcel at 126 E. McKinley Way to allow the apartments.

Plans submitted to the village show four six-plex apartment buildings and six carriage houses, or garages, between East McKinley Way and Marion Drive. Evergreen trees rim the perimeter, and sidewalks connect the buildings.

The commission will make a recommendation to village council, which will make the determination. If council agrees with the recommendation of either approving or rejecting the zone change, it requires a simple majority of council.

If, however, council disagrees with the commission’s recommendation, a super majority, or a vote of at least five of six council members, is required.

The property is owned by Cynthia and Thomas Duncan. Tim Clayton is listed as a member of Singer Homes in paperwork filed by the village.

Atty. Stephen Bolton represents both the property owner and the company.

The request initially had asked that the building size exceed the 3,000-square-foot limit for ground area.

Bolton said the petitioners changed that aspect of the plan, intending to keep the size within the 3,000-square-foot restriction rather than seek an additional change.

Residents living nearby have voiced opposition to the plan, citing concerns about increased traffic and flooding.

Carmella Smallhoover, principal of Union Elementary School, wrote a letter to the planning commission, explaining her concerns.

“The increased traffic so close to our outdoor classroom presents a real danger,” she wrote. “Our children use this area all year long as they study nature’s change of seasons.”

The area where the apartments are proposed is used by neighborhood children to get to the school playground, and the principal also expressed concerns about their safety.

Resident Richard Black, who lives on Edna Street, expressed similar worries in a letter he wrote to village officials.

“I agree with the residents that safety for the children is a concern,” Black wrote. “The school is a magnet for activity for the children, not only for the students, but also neighborhood kids who use the grounds. The playground and baseball field is used not only by the neighborhood residents surrounding the school, but by their friends who live close by.”

Bolton described the planned apartments as upscale with rent of about $1,000 per month. They would include one- and two-floor units.

The attorney said the petitioners have proposed limiting access to and from the development to just U.S. Route 224 rather than from both U.S. 224 and Edna Street as was initially planned.

denise_dick@vindy.com