PLANNING & ZONING COMMISSION

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2007

 

REGULAR MEETING

7:30 P.M.

 

1.         ROLL CALL.  Mr. Blake called the meeting to order at 7:30 P.M. with roll call as follows: Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Harmon, Mr. Bosch, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Blake, Mr. Binkley and Mr. Sauer were present. There were no members absent. Others present were:  Lance Schultz, Joe Henderson, Phil Hartmann, Stacey Bashore, Scott Deisler, Mark Peprenbrock, Ashley Logston and others.

 

2.         APPROVAL OF MNUTES OF November 13, 2007, Regular Meeting- Mr. Bosch moved to approve; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion. Roll call was taken with Mr. Binkley and Mr. Hackworth abstaining and Mr. Bosch, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Blake, Mr. Nicholas, and Mr. Harmon voting  "Yea."  Motion passed, 5-0.

 

 3.        SCHEDULED MATTERS:

           

            A.        Review and request for a motion to approve Commercial Design Guidelines Certificate of Appropriateness for an Outdoor Patio for VIP Lounge at 1751 Hill Road North (TABLED 6/12/07)  Mr. Blake stated this item would remain on the table.

             

            B.         Review and request for a motion to approve a Comprehensive Sign Plan for Ground Signage for Volunteer Energy at 790 Windmiller Drive (TABLED 9/11/07) Mr. Blake stated this item would remain on the table.

           

            C.        Review and request for a motion to approve a Conditional Use Permit for an outdoor patio and volleyball courts for Strike City located on the south side of Windmiller Drive between Diley Road and Gray Drive.  (TABLED 10/9/07) Mr. Blake stated this item would remain on the table.

 

            D.        A Public Hearing and review and request for a motion to approve Olde Pickerington Village District Design Guidelines Comprehensive Sign Plan for Ground Signage at 47 West Columbus Street for England Insurance Agency, Inc.   Mr. Henderson reviewed the report at presented to the Commission and stated that staff supports with the following two conditions:

 

            1.         That the ground sign shall have a matte finish.

            2.         That there shall be no overflow light created by the spot lights for the ground sign.

 

Mr. Blake opened the public hearing at 7:33 and closed the Public Hearing at 7:34.

           

Mr. Mark Peprenbrock stated he was with Signs Unlimited and they designed the sign for England Insurance. He stated they had no objections to staff recommendations and if they see that the lights are a problem they can set up shields to help block the light.  Mr. Hackworth asked what kind of shield and if the light would be focused on the sign.  Mr. Deprenbrock stated that the light was made for this type of sign and there are shields that can be purchased in addition if there appears to be a problem.  He stated that if it becomes a problem there are shields that are manufactured.  Mr. Blake clarified there were no objections to the light being on 24/7.  Mr. Hackworth asked that they be conscience of the residence to the west of the property.  Mr. Schultz stated that we have other illuminated ground signs in the area that haven't been a problem. Mr. Nicholas asked if there would be a photo cell on the lights and Mr. Deprenbrock stated they could purchase a timer for it and that would be to their benefit.  Mr. Nicholas asked if there should be a condition to control what time the lights go out. Mr. Schultz stated the only restrictions downtown for lighting was for the Creamery Building sign.  Mr. Nicholas suggested placing the lights to aim back toward the building and the sign.  Mr. Bosch moved to approve with staff recommendations; Mr. Hackworth seconded the motion.    Roll call was taken with Mr. Bosch, Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Harmon, Mr. Binkley and Mr. Blake voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 7-0.

 

            E.         Review and request for a motion to approve an amended Commercial Design Guidelines Certificate of Appropriateness for Site Plan for a New Elementary School in the Villages of Sycamore Creek Subdivision for the Pickerington Local School District.   Mr. Henderson reviewed the report as presented to the Commission and stated that staff supports the amended Certificate of Appropriateness request for Site Plan. 

 

Mr. Scott Deisler introduced himself on behalf of Steed Hammond Paul.  Mr. Deisler stated the mounding and parking lot is already there as it is going to be.  Mr. Schultz stated that we are confident that the buffering is appropriate for the proposed basketball goals.  Mr. Bosch clarified that it was a gated area and Mr. Deisler stated it is a bus drop off and for overflow parking, and people will be able to get to it from the parking lot.  Mr. Deisler stated there is a considerable amount of landscaping as well.  Mr. Hackworth asked about the line of sight with the mounding and Mr. Schultz stated that was worked out last month.  Mr. Deisler there was plenty of sight distance where the entrance and exit is.   Mr. Binkley moved to approve the amended Certificate of Appropriateness for site plan; Mr. Bosch seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Harmon, Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Blake, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Bosch, Mr. Binkley, and Mr. Sauer voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 7-0.

           

            F.         A Public Hearing and review and request for a motion to approve amendments to Chapters 1270.07, 1272.07, 1278.08, 1280.06, 1290, 1296.01, 1296.08 and Appendices I and IV for the purposes of implementing the revised Non-Residential Design Guidelines reflected in the Growth Management Assessment and Strategy adopted in November 2005.

 

Mr. Schultz stated that we wanted to make everything consistent and user friendly so that we don't have contradictions in our code.  He stated that we are introducing small and large scale commercial and office building requirements based on square footage and we are documenting the building scale massing.  Mr. Schultz further reviewed the updates with the Commission. He stated that we would be requiring a licensed landscape architect to prepare the landscaping plans and we feel it is important to have a professional develop the plans to make it more user friendly.  Mr. Schultz stated that if there are no further changes the effective date would be April 4th.  He stated that this was sent to several developers in and outside of the City and we only received one comment. 

 

Mr. Blake opened the public hearing at 8:16 p.m. and closed the public hearing at 8:17 p.m.

 

Mr. Blake asked about the required landscape architects and what the other members thoughts were on it.  Mr. Binkley stated that he didn't think it was unreasonable to ask a developer for that and Mr. Nicholas agreed.   Mr. Schultz stated that we did a quick inventory of the landscape plans that were approved this year and 30% had licensed landscape architects.  He stated that it is also in line with other cities requirements.  Mr. Blake asked if the Commission would be limited to follow these guidelines to the letter.  Mr. Schultz stated that the Commission may waive any or all of these standards or approve an equivalency standard by a 2/3rds vote.  He stated that if the building industry changes the Commission has the ability to be flexible.  Mr. Schultz stated that the goal of these guidelines is that when these applications get to the Commission a lot of the issues will be resolved.  He stated there would be some minor grammatical and typing errors that would be fixed before it goes to Council.  Mr. Schultz asked if these guidelines were taking our building requirements to the next level or if they were fairly consistent with our current buildings.  Mr. Nicholas stated that they were somewhat restrictive and were definitely taking it to the next level financially, but he didn't feel that it was out of line with other communities. Mr. Blake asked if buildings that have been approved in the past would be changed if they came in after these guidelines.  Mr. Schultz stated he asked Mike Stacy if these guidelines were raising the bar too high and he didn't feel that they were and thought it was documenting what our nicer buildings in town are.  Mr. Bosch stated that this started to give the Planning and Zoning department guidelines to follow without trying to re-design something at the meeting. Mr. Binkley stated that we may also see some retailers who are more cautious with where they are putting their capital and may choose another site because of our architectural code.  Mr. Blake asked what the difference between standards and guidelines were and Mr. Schultz stated that standards are requirements such as shall and may.   A student in the audience stated that he thought most citizens like the feel of Pickerington as it is and wouldn’t want big businesses to come in.  Mr. Blake stated that you have to try to balance the commercial to the residential and once you come on this side of I-70 you notice the difference.  He stated that we don't want S.R. 256 to be the next Brice Road.    Mr. Hackworth stated that in the past the guidelines were extremely difficult to understand and enforce and this is well detailed with enough flexibility.  Ashley Logston asked about stained glass windows in a church and how these guidelines would affect that.  Mr. Schultz stated that we haven't had a church request, but this would give us the flexibility to allow it.  Mr. Bosch moved to approve and forward to Service Committee; Mr. Nicholas seconded the motion.  Roll call was taken with Mr. Binkley voting "Nay" and Mr. Sauer, Mr. Harmon, Mr. Bosch, Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Blake voting "Yea."  Motion passed, 6-1.

 

4.         REPORTS:

 

            A.        Planning and Zoning Director

 

                        (1)        BZA Report-  Mr. Schultz reported that BZA did not meet in November and will meet in December to discuss Pickerington Point Condominiums and their compliance with the City's residential design standards. 

 

                        (2)        FCRPC -   Mr. Schultz stated there were no agenda items related to Pickerington.

 

5.         OTHER BUSINESS:

 

            A.        Tree Commission - No discussion

 

            B.         Commission Discussion- Mr. Blake commended Mr. Hackworth and Mr. Sauer on running a clean campaign during the election and thanked them for their hard work and always being prepared for the meetings.  Mr. Sauer stated it had been a pleasure and commended the Commission for the work that they do.  Mr. Hackworth asked if a driveway would be connected to the Kohl's parking lot and Mr. Schultz stated that Equity and Kohl's are in negotiations to construct the connection.  Mr. Binkley asked about the Exxon Station and Mr. Schultz stated a developer is doing their due diligence to determine whether they want to purchase it.   Mr. Nicholas stated he noticed a neon sign in the window of Winchester Signs and wanted to know about Olive Garden.  Mr. Schultz stated it was his understanding that it was going where the old Lennox Hotel used to be in the township. 

 

            C.        Planning Reports -  No discussion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.         ADJOURNMENT.  There being nothing further, Mr. Binkley moved to adjourn; Mr. Bosch the motion.  Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Sauer, Mr. Bosch, Mr. Binkley, Mr. Hackworth, Mr. Blake and Mr. Harmon voted "Aye." Motion carried 7-0.  The Planning and Zoning Commission adjourned at 8:47 P.M. on December 11, 2007.

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                               

Stacey L. Bashore                                                        Lance A. Schultz

Deputy Municipal Clerk                                                Director, Planning & Zoning