Jackson trustees vote against rezoning 70-acre parcel for use as warehouse

By Elise Franco

JACKSON — A standing-room-only crowd burst into applause as township trustees voted unanimously against rezoning a 70-acre parcel of land on South Bailey Road for use as a 150,000-square-foot warehouse.

The land, which is zoned R-1 residential, is owned by Mel Cadle and his son Ron Cadle. The pair want the land to be rezoned I-2 industrial to allow a development company to build a warehouse distribution center. The building would have been leased to Anderson- DuBose Co. of Solon, exclusive distributor for McDonald’s Corp. in this region.

Residents vehemently opposed the rezoning and voiced their opinions during a public hearing in late September. The township zoning commission voted 4-1 the same night, advising the trustees not to change the zoning for the land.

Trustee Olin Harkleroad said residents’ opposition to the change played a deciding role in the 3-0 vote against the rezoning during Tuesday’s trustees meeting.

“The land is out of our industrial corridor,” he added.

Harkleroad said the township has plenty of land already zoned industrial and close to railroad tracks, which was one reason the Bailey Road property was so attractive to potential builders.

Tom Warga of Palmyra Road was visibly moved as he addressed the board after their vote.

“I’m extremely proud because I know how hard it is to make that vote,” he said.

Not many other elected officials in that position would have made the same call, he said.

Other residents said their biggest concerns were increased traffic and noise on an otherwise quiet, residential road.

Paul Satterlee of Blott Road said he worried about his home, which sits less than 600 feet from the property.

“I’m concerned about light pollution and noise pollution and my housing value,” he said. “I bought my house for the beautiful landscape.”

Satterlee also said he was skeptical about how many of the stated 144 jobs the warehouse would bring in would go to area residents, rather than “transplants from the other two facilities.”

Of those voicing opinions, only one spoke in favor of rezoning the land.

Alan Wenger said the land was zoned industrial from 1956 to 1997.

“There’s no reasonable basis for not allowing the property to be zoned for its best, most developmental use,” he said.