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Austintown trustees to decide zoning change near Rt. 46
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Properties along state Route 46 are for sale in the area surrounding Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course. The casino section opens Sept. 17, and the winter racing season begins Nov. 24.
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Austintown Zoning Commission has sent a recommendation to the Austintown trustees for final approval to rezone four parcels of land from residential to business-professional services.
Township officials met Thursday night and deliberated the decision after hearing from the applicants for the zoning change and neighbors who were against it. The Mahoning County Planning Commission had recommended against the change Aug. 26 because it would be inconsistent with the county’s land-use plan from 2006.
The four applicants own seven parcels of land totaling 4.7 acres located north of Norquest Boulevard and state Route 46. That also means they are within six-tenths of a mile from Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course. The casino section of the new business opens Sept. 17; the racetrack is set to open Nov. 24.
All four applications made the same arguments for the zone change, and all four paid the $300 zoning request fee. Their applications read, “The state upgraded [state] Route 46 to a four-lane highway causing increased traffic and noise. Thus, we are looking at the property as a speculative investment for future business growth.”
The property owners and neighbors opposing the original zoning request — a change from single-family residential to general-business classification, a B-2 designation — spoke before the zoning commission deliberated. The panel briefly interrupted its talk to ask if the owners would be opposed to a recommendation of business-professional services specification, a B-1 designation for office-use and not retail, instead of general-business, B-2.
Speaking for the group, Manfred Michalski of 166 N. Canfield-Niles Road, said, “We do not have a problem, collectively, making it B-1.”
The commission reconvened for a short time and made four motions amending the county’s rejection of B-2 zoning changes to a recommendation for B-1 zoning changes that would also come with a buffer zone between the residential areas. Township Zoning Inspector Darren Crivelli said the matter will go before the township trustees for final approval within 30 days.
Afterward, Chris Morris of 164 N. Canfield-Niles Road, one of the four property owners said, “The more they were talking, I felt they were looking at growth coming into this area, too, and they want businesses here. It’s more tax money for them, and it will benefit the township eventually.”
Before the vote, Michalski told the commission he had lived in his home since 1968. “We are being proactive. Someone has to take the first step [for development]. ... That noise is just ridiculous.”
The noise factor was talked about by both people seeking the zone change and those against it. “Everyone knows that that Route 46 is going to be business eventually,” Michalski said.
But Jason Dyer, of 191 Ohltown Road, said of the vote, “I don’t know what to say honestly.”
He, along with some residents of Ohltown Road, had spoken against the zone change before the commission made its recommendation to put before the township trustees.
“Where’s it end?” asked Kasey Clark of 145 Ohltown Road, echoing the thought of many of the residents opposing the zone change Thursday night.
Deborah Wagner of 184 N. Canfield-Niles Road, said before the vote, “Once you rezone, you don’t go back. Once you cut down the trees, once you tear [it] up you can’t go back to a residential area. It’s just not going to happen.”
While this is happening, there still are commercial properties for sale along Route 46 near the racino, and Crivelli said those properties are zoned B-2. He said, “There’s B-2 up there now for sale, and these applicants are doing this just for speculation hoping to be able to capture the increased property value of a B-1 or B-2 zoning district, but you know, we’ll see what happens. The racino is going to open in about another week and a half, and we’ll see where we’re at six months or a year from now.”