Girard council eyes zoning change for Dollar General


September 13, 2016 at 12:02a.m.

By Sarah Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

GIRARD

A developer is seeking a zoning change to build a Dollar General store on Churchill Road, also known as state Route 304.

Hurley & Stewart LLC of Kalamazoo, Mich., has requested on behalf of Capital Growth, Buchalter Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., to rezone five parcels of land from residential to commercial.

The city’s planning commission voted unanimously Monday to recommend the zoning change to city council. Council will decide whether to approve the change after a public hearing on a date to be set.

In other business, council voted to establish a position for an administrative hearing officer who will earn $100 an hour without benefits. The hearings administrator will preside over appeals of civil citations issued as a result of the city’s new speed-camera program.

Fourth Ward Councilman Stephen Grumley, who consistently has opposed the camera program, cast the sole vote against creating the position.

Civil citations from the cameras carry fines starting at $100 but do not count against a speeder’s driving record. Under Girard’s contract with Blue Line Solutions of Athens, Tenn., the city receives 60 percent of fine revenue, and the company receives the remaining 40 percent.

Police Chief Jeffrey Palmer said he will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday to answer questions about the cameras. Residents should call the police department at 330-545-0211 and leave a message for Palmer if he is not there.

Palmer cited crash statistics as evidence that the cameras have slowed down drivers and improved safety.

There were 13 crashes on North State Street, South State Street and Interstate 80/state Route 711 during July and August of 2016 as compared with a five-year average of 19 crashes during those two months.

Two of those crashes resulted in injuries during July and August of 2016, as compared with a five-year average of 4.4 crashes resulting in injuries during July and August, according to figures presented by Palmer to city council.