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Trustees OK rezoning after request is amended
By Elise Franco
Austintown
St. Anne Ukrainian Catholic Church’s amendment to a rezoning request prompted township trustees to approve the proposal.
The church, 4310 Kirk Road, began the rezoning process in August to allow for business development on the property.
The initial proposal was 14.35 acres with 1,301 feet of frontage on Kirk Road that would be divided into four business lots.
Trustees previously asked church leaders to amend the request after residents on Lake and Evelyn roads expressed concerns with having retail stores so close to their homes.
Church leaders presented the revised request to the board Monday night, said board chairman David Ditzler.
“The amendment was the removal of parcel number four,” he said. “It was the largest block of land fronting Kirk Road, but it also backed into all the residential areas along Evelyn and Lake.”
Austintown Zoning Inspector Darren Crivelli said the fourth parcel was 8.18 acres, leaving 6.17 acres.
Ditzler said the board is confident that residents will be happy with the final zoning change.
“All of the neighbors’ concerns had been with parcel four,” he said. “We heard no negative comments geared toward one, two or three.”
Phillip Arbie of Warren, lawyer for St. Anne’s, previously said the church will deal with reputable businesses. He said national pharmacy and family-oriented retail stores have expressed interest in the property.
“Everything is an ongoing process to try and develop some business and help the church downsize and survive,” he said.
Ditzler said trustees would prefer to see vacant township buildings occupied before new businesses are built, but overall, the rezoning should prove beneficial.
“There are additional jobs that come with retail establishments and new opportunities for residents to be serviced by those retailers,” he said.
If the church decides to pursue the fourth parcel at a later date, it must wait one year from the date the rezoning case was first filed and repeat the entire process, Ditzler said.