PICKERINGTON CITY COUNCIL

CITY HALL, 100 LOCKVILLE ROAD

 

TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 2010

7:20 P.M.

 

PUBLIC HEARING

 

OPEN DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPOSED

REZONING OF 108 HILL ROAD NORTH

 

 

 

1.         Call to Order.  Mayor O’Brien opened the Public Hearing at 7:20 P.M.

 

2.         Roll Call:  Roll call was taken with Mrs. Sanders, Mr. Fix, Mr. Blair, Mr. Sauer, Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Barletta, Mr. Wisniewski, and Mayor O’Brien present.  No members were absent.  Others present were:  Chief Mike Taylor, Lynda Yartin, Lance Schultz, Greg Bachman, Phil Hartmann, Karen Risher, Ed Drobina, Chris Schornack, Sandy Hague, Emily Dinnell, Nate Ellis, Stacey Vansant, Charlie Vansant, Charles Taylor, Matt LaBuhn, Rachel Scofield, and others. 

 

3.                   Purpose of the Public Hearing:  To allow citizens a chance to voice any concerns and/or questions regarding the proposed rezoning of 108 Hill Road North. 

 

4.         Presentation to Council: 

 

            A.        Mr. Schultz stated in April the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the proposed rezoning.  He stated the site is located at the northeast corner of Hill Road North and Borland Street and is approximately 1.1 acres.  He stated this site is currently zoned R-4 (Residential) and the proposal is to rezone it to O (Suburban Office).  Mr. Schultz stated the owner is in the process of doing some interior work and this hearing is for the zoning only.  He stated the site plan, elevation, landscaping, and lighting will have to be approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission should this be passed tonight. 

 

5.         Resident Comments/Questions: 

 

            A.        Mr. Charles Taylor stated he lives next to the property in question and he is 100 percent against the rezoning for two reasons.  First, Borland Street is not wide enough for the traffic that is on it now; if you were to go west on Borland Street and stay in the right hand lane and turn north on Hill Road, there is no way you can stay in both lanes and not hit the curb.  He stated he did not feel we need any more traffic on Borland Street unless something is done about the width of it.  He stated secondly, his concern is drainage.  He stated that particular property is lower than Borland Street and Hill Road so he did not know how it will get drained.  Mr. Taylor stated he would like this included in the record because down the road he was sure we would have traffic problems and/or drainage problems.  Mr. Taylor stated he is not against the owner it is just he has been through this before with the Donley situation and he knew trouble would arise. 

 

            B.         Mr. Charlie Vansant and he lives at 178 W. Borland.  Mr. Vansant stated he appreciated the time to address Council and perhaps many of his concerns would be more appropriately directed to the Planning and Zoning Commission.  He stated his concerns were the same as Mr. Taylor’s; traffic on Borland Street and should the applicant be allowed to have entrance to her parking lot from Borland and not Hill Road.  He stated also Borland Street has no current means of drainage.  He stated his property is next to where the proposed parking lot would go and the rain would drain right into his yard.  He stated he would like for Council to consider that currently Olde Downtown Pickerington has four or five similar use businesses and of those one is about 100 yards away from the proposed property.  He stated while he is a big supporter of small business and competition amongst them he fears that in a few months there is a good chance one of these properties will sit as a vacant commercial property.  He stated ultimately his biggest opposition to the rezoning of this property is what it might do to the property values of his and other residential properties in the area.  He stated other commercial properties have moved in around these same residential areas but they are not as highly trafficked as a hair salon would hope to be and they do use Hill Road as a means to enter and exit the property.  He stated before Council voted tonight he would ask that they think about what a commercial property zoned to be a hair salon would look like 12 months from now as it competes with a hair salon less than 100 yards away.  He also asked that they consider himself and other taxpayers in the area and the value of their properties.  He stated his own property would be surrounded 50 percent by this proposed commercial property. 

 

                        Mayor O’Brien clarified the O zoning would allow a lot of the same uses as C-3 (Commercial).  Mayor O’Brien further clarified the traffic and drainage issues would be addressed in the engineering review during the Planning and Zoning process.  Mr. Schultz stated it would also be addressed during the site plan approval. 

 

            C.        Sandy Hague stated she is the owner of the property in question and she would like to state that it is her goal to be a good neighbor and if there were any drainage issues she would want that addressed up front.  She stated she is not overly concerned about the competition because this business is going to be where she would provide space for independent contractors that do hair, nails, and massage.  Ms Hague stated she is aiming for five hair stations, a nail station, and a massage/facial station.  She stated she has not completed the interior design with her architect, but her goal is to have seven to eight stations.  Mayor O’Brien clarified that because they are independent contractors they would set their own hours so there should not be a concentration of customers at one time. 

 

                        Mr. Charles Taylor stated he knew when Mr. Donley built his building Council would not let him access on S.R. 256 and now he was pretty sure they would have since it would mean a lot less traffic on Borland Street.  He stated he was wondering if Ms Hague would be allowed to access onto S.R. 256 instead of Borland Street to some of the traffic off of Borland Street.  Mr. Taylor stated he does appreciate the work that was done this week because they did a good job of cleaning the property up. 

 

                        Mayor O’Brien stated he would encourage everyone to attend the Planning and Zoning meeting because he was sure they would want to hear these comments. 

 

            D.        Mr. Matt LaBuhn stated he is the attorney for the property owner and he would like Council to be aware that they chose the O zoning because it is the lowest impact use.  He stated the other commercial districts such as C-2 or C-3 would allow multi-family uses and restaurants.  He stated the O zoning did not allow that and to get the more high impact uses they would have to go back to Planning and Zoning, and the goal was not to end up with some high impact, high traffic use on that property. 

 

6.         Council Questions/Comments:  Mayor O’Brien determined there were no questions by Council. 

 

           

7.         Adjournment.  There being nothing further, Mayor O’Brien closed the public hearing at 7:30 P.M., June 1, 2010.

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:       

 

 

_______________________________                     

Lynda D. Yartin, Municipal Clerk                                

 

 

ATTEST:

 

 

________________________________

Mitch O’Brien, Mayor