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Boston Heights Overlook

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the Village of Boston Heights OH.

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On the agenda of the 02 March 2005 7PM meeting of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals for the Village of Boston Heights, Ohio

Dennis Cerny
Site plan for 6350/6367 Chittenden Road.
Referred to Engineer and deferred for later consideration by the Planning Commission; see below.
Duke Realty Ohio
Application for variance of timbering buffer zone on Chittenden Road.
Variance granted by Board of Zoning Appeals; see below.

Other Links:
Boston Heights Zoning Code
Boston Heights Business & Location List

General Notes
Deputy Solicitor Ed Muse, along with collegue Jason Dodson, acted as legal counsel for the Planning Commission and BZA. Zoning Inspector David Himes was also in attendance, as was Engineer Steve Schreiber.

Planning Commission (PC): present were Chairman John Codrea, Mayor Ray McFall, Bob Campbell, Mike Bush, and (after roll call) Council Rep. Mike Cheung. The PC was unable to review its minutes of February, 2005. Chairman Codrea proposed a draft PC application form for discussion next month; Dr. Cheung also asked that a public notification rule be placed on the agenda.

The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA): present were Chairman William Hinkle, Kevin Lightner and Council Rep. Mike Cheung. Ed Fetko and Ken Metz were absent. The BZA was unable to review its minutes of February, 2005.

Dennis Cerny
Site plan for 6350/6367 Chittenden Road.

This 9.2A lot consists of two 4.6A parcels (parcel #1300230 and (parcel #1300232) owned by Mr. Dennis Cerny of Northfield OH. This is vacant property within the LM Light Manufacturing zoning district. The parcel is south of Dunn-Rite Roofing. The Village of Boston Heights is currently involved in a legal dispute with Mr. Cerny over the use of this property (Case # CV-1997-10-5421).

Last month, Mr. John Hirko of Aljon LLC (charter #1136014) submitted a proposal for a mulch processing operation at this location. Solictor Russ Pry and members of the Planning Commission pointed out a number of difficulties with this proposal, e.g. that the Village does not generally permit business uses where there is no permanent building or sanitary facility. Mr. Hirko was advised to consult both the Zoning and Building Codes in detail, and the application was denied.

This Month
John M. Manos, Mr. Cerny's attorney, addressed the Planning Commission on an application for use of the property for the "building trade", specifically to include a 2200 sq.ft. building on the site. This is a permitted use in the LM district, inherited from the GB General Business use permitted under Zoning Code 1157.01(c)(14). In response to a question, Mr. Manos stated that the specific "building trades" would be road and foundation construction, and general building trades. He added that Mr. Cerny could not "make use of his property" with his current Cerny Excavating & Trucking business.

Mr. Manos presented a site plan showing a general outline of the proposed building and septic field; there was no detail of the interior of the building. He stated that the site had been approved by Summit County for a septic field. The building would have all metal siding, of the sort seen in service departments around the area, according to Mr. Manos. He stated that the building would have no office space at all, and therefore was exempt from the requirement of Zoning Code 1151.04(c), wherein masonry construction is required for the office portion of a building in the LM district (regardless of whether it is a GB use, as here, according to the PC's legal counsel).

Engineer Steve Schreiber requested that the final site plan reflect current topological conditions, rather than the 1999 conditions reflected in the application. He reviewed a number of other technical requirements for the site plan, some of which were already in hand, some not.

From the audience, Councilor Bill Goncy asked whether this building would have a postal address; Mr. Manos said "yes". Mr. Goncy then asked whether this would be the principal location for the proposed business, or if there would be another location. If this is the principal location, as was confirmed by Mr. Manos, Mr. Goncy asserted that the business must carry out office functions somewhere in the building. Another audience member asked whether this business was related to the mulching operation discussed last month (see above); Solicitor Jason Dodson explained that this was a separate application entirely.

Solicitor Ed Muse reviewed the PC's options when considering site plans under the criteria of Zoning Code 1157.05-09. It was noted that the site plan did not include the required landscaping plan (1157.09), in addition to some of the technical points raised by Mr. Schreiber. After additional discussion, the Commission resolved tha the application be referred to the Engineer for his review and approval, but also be required to return to the the Planning Commission for final review and approval.

Resolution:
Referred to Engineer and deferred for later consideration by the Planning Commission.
Back to the Agenda/Map

Duke Realty Ohio
Appeal of Zoning Inspector decision about tree clearing on a 4 acre parcel on Chittenden Road.

This 4.14A lot (parcel #1300238) is owned by Duke Realty Ohio (charter #1354955), and is vacant commercial property within the LM Light Manufacturing zoning district. The parcel lies north of the ODOT maintenance center and south of R.B. Thomas Electric, and is adjacent to and contiguous with Duke's larger holding in the City of Hudson (129.37A, parcel #3009587). This is where Duke is developing Phase 1 of the Terex Road Extension, north from Route 303. Duke Realty Ohio is the trade name of an Indianapolis IN partnership between Duke Realty Corporation (charter #831066) and Duke Realty Limited Partnership (charter #988310).

Last month, a representative of Duke Realty Ohio described the company's plan to deforest the parcel. He was informed that in the absence of a site plan for specific development of the site, the Planning Commission had no jurisdiction under the timbering and tree clearing regulations of Zoning Code Chapter 1177.

This Month
Spencer Pisczak and Michael Prochaska, of Duke Realty, addressed the Board of Zoning Appeals on an applicaton for a variance of the timbering ordinance, Zoning Code Chapter 1177. They explained that this was a high-visibility portion of the overall Hudson/Boston Heights site, which Duke hoped to market and develop this year. Their wetlands permit, however, prevented timbering between April 15 and September 15, the Indiana bat nesting season. This would likely prevent their clearing the site for development under a normal grading and clearing permit that might be issued later in the year. They further pointed out that the southern border was already cleared due to an adjacent electrical right of way, and reviewed other aspects of the site and its projected development in conjunction with the larger project just over the border in the City of Hudson.

After further questioning and discussion, the Board voted to find that these did constitute a special condition, and granted a variance to 1177.07(b) as follows: instead of the 100-foot buffer zone, no buffer zone would be required along the south and west borders, and a 20-foot buffer zone would be required along the north and east borders. All other portions of 1177 must be complied with, and the area must be seeded with appropriate grass or vegetation after timbering.

Resolution:
Variance granted by the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Back to the Agenda/Map

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