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Boardman neighborhoods re-zoned to prevent duplexes, apartments
BOARDMAN
New duplexes and apartments soon will not be permitted in one township neighborhood, as the township administration continues its efforts to “stabilize neighborhoods,” as Zoning Inspector Sarah Gartland puts it.
The board of trustees voted Jan. 12 to rezone more than 100 properties in one neighborhood, and Gartland says there are many more changes to come within the next couple of years.
The issue, she says, is that though most residences in the township are single-family homes, the neighborhoods often are zoned for multi-family dwellings — and, there are many vacant properties throughout the township that could be converted to multi-family.
Since late 2013, her department has been working to rezone about half of the township’s 10,000 single-family residences so that their zoning district matches what they actually are.
“It’s a standard of living, cultural, neighborhood-character issue,” she said. “It’s an idea to preserve the character of our single-family neighborhoods.”
Neighborhood by neighborhood, the zoning department has been rezoning properties from Residential R-2 districts to Residential R-1 districts, meaning that duplexes and small apartment complexes no longer can move into those neighborhoods.
The change targets only those neighborhoods that already are primarily single-family home neighborhoods, and existing duplexes and apartments are grandfathered in, Gartland said.
“We’re just trying to make the zoning match what was constructed to protect those neighborhoods,” she said. “We’re not trying to prevent those [multifamily residence] areas. ... It’s good to have zoning controls in place that match the style of the neighborhoods.”
Most of the neighborhoods in question are concentrated in the northern part of the township.
The most recent change affects part of the Mount Vernon Woods area, which includes properties on Meadow Lane, Tara Court, Johnston Place and Tara, Alverne and Canavan drives.
Rezoning is just one of several approaches the township is taking to protect its neighborhoods. Those measures include: demolition of vacant, tax-delinquent properties; a township land bank that acquires abandoned, vacant, tax-delinquent properties; and redevelopment of certain neighborhoods through targeted zoning enforcement, acquisition and demolition of properties and verification of which properties are vacant.
The township also recently enacted a resolution that requires landlords to register with the township, although its implementation is on hold pending the resolution of a lawsuit challenging the resolution.
“All are aimed at keeping ahead of the change from the mortgage crisis and the aging of our housing stock,” Gartland said. “This is really about protecting the character and the integrity of the single-family neighborhoods.”