Harrison Township Zoning Commission
Meeting Minutes
January 14, 2013
The Harrison Twp. Zoning Commission January meeting was called to order by Chair Kelly Spriggs at 8:00 p.m. Present were Ronde Cook-Brushart, Dorothy Green, Kelly Spriggs, Jim Wells, Trevor Younkin, Joe DeFelice and Carol Balthaser. Visitors in attendance were: Aaron Mortrud, Ronald Younkin, Barbara Younkin, Larry Valentine and Todd Younkin.
Minutes from the October meeting were read. Ronde moved that the minutes be approved. Dorothy seconded the motion. Motion passed.
OLD BUSINESS
Kelly stated that due to the full agenda for the January meeting, she was postponing the review of the verbiage on abandoned and/or destroyed buildings until the April meeting.
Joe told the Commission that Brian Bell pulled his application prior to the Trustee meeting for rezoning of 12375 Bulen Pierce Road (old address of 0 Bulen Pierce Road) and will reissue an application under Planned Business.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business to be discussed at this time, and Kelly proceeded to Barbara Younkin’s tabled zoning application from the December 10 hearing. The application from this hearing was to be modified from General Business to Planned Business.
Minutes from the December hearing were read. Dorothy moved to approve the minutes. Ronde seconded the motion.
Before proceeding to the continuation of Barbara Younkin’s modified application, Kelly asked Carol to read the guidelines for the hearing. After guidelines were read, Kelly reminded those present that the Zoning Commission’s responsibility is to make a recommendation to the Trustees regarding the application and that the Trustees make the final decision.
Joe stated that the Pickaway Planning Commission has approved the modifications made to Barbara Younkin’s modified zoning application. At this time, Kelly asked Barbara for an overview of the modified plan as submitted to the Pickaway Planning Commission.
Barbara stated that Larry Valentine (Barbara’s husband) attended the Pickaway Planning Commission meeting on December 18 to present the modification and would address the Zoning Commission at this time. Larry said that the Pickaway Planning Commission consists of the three (3) county commissioners, Terry Frazier (Director of the Planning Commission), and three (3) appointed residents of the county. Larry stated that he spent approximately forty-five (45) minutes going over the modified application with the Planning Commission, and they, in turn, unanimously approved the modified application.
Larry stated that the “meat” of the application would be the following items:
Auction days and start times would be Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 12:00 p.m.
Activities associated with the auction will be conducted within the confines of Building One (1) with Building Two (2) being used for storage and prepping of items before transferring to Building One (1) for the auction. These buildings were code approved by the Pickaway County Building Department when built.
There will be no flea market type activity on the premises. Auctions would be of personal goods/items.
There will be no additional structures constructed on the site.
The current development plan for the site will remain valid but will not be used as long as the modified plan is in effect.
The currently approved square footage for signage will remain the same with no additional footage being requested.
The existing driveway cut on State Route 23 is gated and is not to be used except in an emergency.
Larry stated that at some point in the future when ODOT proceeds with the continuation of the development of the State Route 23 and State Route 762 intersection, American Heritage Homes, Greenlawn Sales and the Younkin parcel will be taken for that development. The timeline on this is still unknown, but is believed to be in the last phase of the development plan.
There were no opponents to speak against the modification.
At this time the Zoning Commission asked their questions on the modification.
Kelly asked whether the commercial storage option was still on the table. Todd Younkin replied that the storage option was off the docket. She also asked if the auctions would be live and on-line internet auctions. Todd replied that it was his understanding that auctions would be “in person” and no internet bidding would be involved. Auctions were to be in a controlled environment with previously stated days of the week and times. Kelly also inquired of Todd whether the Planning Commission expressed any concerns about the location of the driveway into the property as the plan states that there would be parking for seventy-five (75) to eighty (80) cars. Larry Valentine responded to this question stating that once it was explained that the days and times were chosen based on the low flow traffic potential along with the fact that cars would be entering and exiting over an extended period of time, there was no objection from the Planning Commission.
Jim asked if there would be people in and out of the property on a daily basis. Todd responded that there is potential for the auctioneer and his partner to be coming and going on a daily basis to bring in items and do staging, but that there would be no business conducted on days not specified as “auction days.”
Ronde asked if the community would know about the days designated as “auction days” or whether there would be advertising/signs put up in the community to publicize. Todd stated that he could not definitively answer that question as it would depend on the auctioneer that uses the facilities. Todd did state that he would instruct the tenant that he would need to use the current signage there to advertise the dates and times of the auctions.
At this time Joe requested that the heading on the development plan be changed to read Planned Business for clarification and specifics before the Commission signs off on the plan and forwards to the Trustees for consideration.
Ronde moved to recommend that the Zoning Commission accept the proposed modified Younkin zoning application from Planned Commercial to Planned Business which includes the proposed auction house. Dorothy seconded the motion.
Kelly called for a roll call vote:
Ronde Yes
Dorothy Yes
Kelly Yes—this is a good addition to the Planned Business use
Jim Yes
Kelly stated that the eligible voting members of the Zoning Commission unanimously recommend to the Trustees to accept the Younkin modified zoning application. A hearing will be held by the Trustees on the modification and Barbara, Larry and Todd will be notified of that hearing by the Fiscal Clerk.
At this time Trevor Younkin was welcomed as a new member of the Zoning Commission. He will be backfilling for Barbara Younkin who retired from the Commission as of December 31, 2012.
Kelly then proceeded to open the hearing for the zoning application for Greenlawn Companies. Greenlawn is requesting a modification to the use of their property at 1390 Duvall Road, Lockbourne, Ohio.
Aaron Mortrud, Greenlawn Company, stated that they currently have a business at 1390 Duvall Road that is dedicated as a home building center and contains two model homes—one a two story and the other a ranch home on a slab. They also have an RV business located at 6445 South High Street which is approximately two (2) miles north of the Duvall Road location.
Greenlawn currently leases the property at the South High Street location and desires to move the RV sales center to the 1390 Duvall Road location. Aaron stated that it is more economically feasible to move the RV sales center to the Duvall Road location. The Duvall Road location was previously planned and approved for an RV center in the mid 90’s. The request does not include any new construction or changes to the infrastructure. Greenlawn would just be using the property in a more efficient manner. Unused parking spaces would be taken and used to park towable recreational vehicles. There would be no noticeable increase in traffic as the current site on South High Street, which is open six (6) days a week, averages approximately five hundred (500) customers per year which averages out to a car and a half per day. There is the possibility of an increase in traffic during the warmer months, but during the months of November and December there are often no cars that enter their lot. Aaron feels that it would be a benefit to Pickaway County in taxes and the hiring of employees by Greenlawn.
Ron Younkin stated that Greenlawn has been in the county since 1990 and feels that they have been a very good neighbor. He feels that they would be a definite asset to the area with the addition of the RV business. Greenlawn would also be able to service the RV trailers at the Duvall Road location instead of moving them to another service location.
At this time Kelly asked if there were any opponents to the Greenlawn application. None were present.
Joe stated that the Pickaway County Planning Commission appoved the Greenlawn application.
Jim asked if all the RV units would be moved from the High Street location to the Duvall Road location. Ron Younkin replied that he felt the site could accommodate all the RV units.
Joe asked for clarification on the maximum number of RV units that would occupy the specified area at the Duvall Road location. Aaron replied that the maximum number of units would be thirty-five (35) and would not include any units in for service. Ron stated that there is the possibility of trade-in units (motorized or pull type) that would be sitting on the lot for a day or two until they could be moved to another location. Aaron stated that the travel trailer units for sale would only be located in the specified area. When referring to the maximum number of units on the lot, that definition would include only the RV units that are for retail sale. Anything in the service center would be in the building with the three bays. Aaron stated that this location would not be used for any type of winterization storage area. Ron added that all trailers in for service should be in the service bays, but there may be times that one may set outside for a day or two after service until it is picked up by the owner. He also stated that there is the possibility that a trade-in of a motorized RV would set at the lot for a day or two until it could be moved to another location.
Barbara Younkin stated that as an adjacent landowner, she had no problem with Greenlawn modifying the Duvall Road location to include travel trailers.
Trevor asked if the trailers on the lot would be new or used. Ron replied that the trailers would be a combination—possibly seventy (70) percent new and thirty (30) percent used.
Jim asked if there would be anything placed over the hill. Aaron stated that there would only be trailers in the designated area.
Trevor asked if there would be anything placed over the hill in the future. Aaron replied that there were no plans to do so and that they would likely install some type of decorative fencing between the asphalt and the hill so that there is a visual separation for the customers.
Kelly asked if the RV center would be open seasonally on Sundays and Aaron confirmed that. She also inquired whether that would include the home sales center and Aaron replied that the New Generation Homes sales center is never open on Sunday. He also stated that the RV service center would not be open on Sunday—only the RV sales center would have seasonal Sunday hours.
Trevor asked if all the RV units would be pull type models. Aaron replied that was correct and there are no plans to get into the larger park models of RV units.
Kelly made a recommendation to the Trustees to approve the Greenlawn application to locate a maximum of thirty-five (35) new or used RV units at the Duvall Road Greenlawn location. The thirty-five (35) units would not include those in the service center. There should not be any more than a maxium of five (5) outside the service center at any given time, and the site should not be used for a winterized storage location. Ronde seconded the motion.
Kelly called for a roll call vote:
Ronde Yes
Dorothy Yes
Kelly Yes
Jim Yes
Trevor Yes
Kelly stated that the motion was approved by the Zoning Commission and would be forwarded to the Trustees with that recommendation. At that time, the Trustees would hold a hearing and make the final decision on the application. Ron asked how long it would be before Greenlawn would receive approval from the Trustees, and Joe replied that it would be a period of thirty (30) days.
At this time Kelly stated that the Commission needed to discuss approval of the Strategic Land Use Plan formulated by the G2 Planning & Design Group. Joe stated that the plan is a guideline only and will not be written into the zoning regulations. Everything in the land use plan can be changed. The Trustees are looking to accept this plan as a vision statement.
As each member of the Commission had a copy of the plan to review prior to the meeting, the members felt that there were many good points to the plan, and it was to the advantage of the township to accept the plan. At this time, Ronde made a motion to recommend to the Trustees that the township adopt the land use plan as a guide and resource. Jim seconded the motion. All in favor—motion passed.
The next order of business was to elect a chair for the 2013 calendar year. Ronde nominated Kelly Spriggs. Jim Wells seconded the motion. All in favor—motion passed.
At this time Dorothy asked the members for their feedback on changing the meeting date and time to the second Tuesday of the month with a meeting start time of 7:00 p.m. She asked that the members consider this change and express their views at the next meeting. Joe will propose the change to the Trustees at their next meeting and request their feedback.
The next meeting will be April 8, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.
Carol Balthaser
Secretary