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Boston Heights Overlook
Not an official public document by, of or for
the Village of Boston Heights OH.
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Boston Heights Overlook |
This is a publication of
Boston Heights Overlook.
Not an official public document by, of or for the Village of Boston Heights OH. |
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On the agenda of the 01 June 2005 7PM meeting of the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals for the Village of Boston Heights, Ohio
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General Notes
Deputy Solicitor Jason Dodson, along with colleague Ed Muse, acted as legal counsel for the
Planning Commission and BZA. Zoning Inspector David Himes was also in attendance,
as was Engineer Steve Schreiber.
Air Power of Ohio
Application for conditional use for former Ohio Roll Form building at 6607 Chittenden Road.
Air Power of Ohio (a trade name #1477744 of Apo Holdings Inc. of Cleveland, charter #860674), is considering use of the former Ohio Roll Form building at 6607 Chittenden Road. Air Power is in the business of sales, service and rental of air compressor and pump equipment.
This 9.2A lot consists of a 4.77A parcel (parcel #1300002) and a a 4.4A parcel (parcel #1300001). The property is currently still owned by Northeast Machinery Sales Inc. It is located in a GB General Business zoning district, just south of Route 8 Self Storage. It includes a building combining a 2,944 sq.ft. office, a 25,000 sq.ft. warehouse/shop, and an additional 15,800 sq.ft. warehouse/shop. Original construction was in 1972, with additions in 1995 and 1998. The Summit County valuation for this property is $860,030. Current real property taxes are about $19,380/yr.
There is an additional 5.4A lot (parcel #1300003) adjacent to the south, along Pettit Road. It is not yet clear whether this property is included with the building lots.
Northeast Machinery Sales Inc., also dba Ohio Roll Form Equipment Inc. and Iron Bay Inc., ceased operation at this location sometime in 2004. Business assets were auctioned off on 23 Feb 2005.
At the April PC/BZA meeting, a representative of Air Power of Ohio introduced the company's business to the Planning Commission and discussed possible plans for this site. This month, Mr. Ted Mailey (Vice President of Air Power of Ohio) appeared before the Board of Zoning Appeals to request a conditional use certificate that would allow the company to operate its industrial equipment distribution and service business from this facility. This location is within a GB General Business district, which does not include this kind of business within its permitted uses, but does conditionally permit "other compatible uses".
Mr. Mailey explained that the company wished to consolidate its Cleveland and Canton locations here within about 6 months. He described how the existing building and parking areas would be used: 5-6 employees in the office area, 15-20 service vehicles (3/4-ton pickup trucks) which are driven home by other service employees at night, and a single larger rollback truck that would be parked onsite at night, inside if possible. An existing fenced area would be used for storage and parking, though the fencing would be changed to obscure the enclosed area. The company expected to retain the gravelled parking lots as-is, for the time being.
On a motion by Mr. Hudson, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted a Conditional Zoning Certificate, under Zoning Code 1159.03(m), for Air Power of Ohio to operate its business, as described, at the existing facility at 6607 Chittenden Road. The Board's vote was unanimous. Mr. Mailey was advised that the company still needed to follow the usual requirements for site plan approval by the Planning Commission.
Resolution:
John's Landscaping and Tree Service
Review of use and application for variance for office and warehouse building at north end of Chittenden Road.
John's Landscaping and Tree Service appears to be an unregistered trade name of John T. Baker Enterprises (charter #638327), headed by Mr. John Baker of Boston Mills Road in Boston Heights. The company is currently headquartered on Sullivan Road in Hudson, though much of its tree service equipment is run out of Mr. Baker's home on Boston Mills Road.
Mr. Baker's architectural firm presented a preliminary site plan for an office and warehouse building on land owned by Mr. & Mrs. Baker at the very north end of Chittenden Road, just north of Coyote Loaders. This is a 4.65 acre lot (parcel #1300233) in the GB General Business district. It was explained that Mr. Baker expected to move his business headquarters from Hudson, and his equipment from his residence, to this new facility.
Originally the company had applied for a conditional use. However, Deputy Solicitor Jason Dodson stated that his review of the company's activities showed that it would qualify as a permitted use in the GB General Business district: "building trades". In the absence of an objection from the Zoning Inspector, the BZA therefore did not further address the question of a conditional use.
The property abuts the rear or side of 7 different residential properties fronting Boston Mills Road, including the Bakers' own home lot; this brings the 100-foot residential buffer yard requirement into play (Zoning Code 1151.04(a)). While Phase I of construction would not infringe on the required buffer, a Phase II warehouse addition (58x50ft) would approach within 42 feet of the southwestern corner of parcel #1300261, Mr. Daniel Henderson's residential lot.
There was a great deal of discussion on this matter. After consultation with the Deputy Solicitors, the Board determined that the required buffer yard would extend in a 100-foot radius from the lot corner of interest. (This would place almost the entire Phase II building within that part of the buffer). The architects, and Mr. Baker, pointed out that the total width of the lot (N-S) was about 192 feet, making it difficult to accommodate the buffer. However, all of the area directly adjacent to residential properties would include the required buffer area, and more -- since the eastern area is largely wetlands, with a creek running through it and a detention pond planned. They also pointed out that the Henderson home was at the extreme opposite end of that lot, and so unlikely to be affected -- and also that additional residential building near that lot corner was very unlikely. (Mr. Henderson was not in attendence.) It was mentioned that moving the company's vehicles and equipment to this facility would decrease the impact on this same adjacent residential area.
The Board explored the idea of offsetting the Phase II addition southward to minimize its encroachment; Mr. Baker and his architects stated that this would prevent use of the southern area of the property for additional future buildings. They also rejected mirroring the planned buildings north-south, for that same reason and also aesthetics. From the audience, Mr. Bob Campbell (of the Planning Commission) urged the Board to consider the buffer yard requirement "sacred".
On a motion by Mr. Lightner, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted a variance of Zoning Code 1151.04(a) such that a warehouse addition as indicated on the preliminary site plan may approach to 42 feet from a north-south line extending from the southwestern corner of the adjacent residential area (specifically, parcel 1300261 as shown on the plan). Special conditions were noted in that the lot was narrow relative to the required buffer yard, and largely wetlands to the east of the varianced area. This equates to a relief of approximately 58 feet of the required 100-foot buffer yard within which no commercial construction, parking or storage may occur adjacent to a residential area. The vote for the variance was 2-1 with MM. Hudson and Lightner voting "yes" and Mr. Hinkle voting "no".
Resolution:
Tequila Pancho's Restaurant
Application for variance to build a patio at 5893 Akron-Cleveland Road.
Tequila Pancho's (charter #1128629) is a restaurant at 5893 Akron-Cleveland Road, at the south end of Boston Heights. It is owned and operated by Mr. Dale Perez, et al.
The restaurant and its parking lie on a group of four parcels (#1300030,#1300031, #1300032,#1300033), totalling a bit less than 1 acre. Parts of all these lots are taken up by Akron-Cleveland Road to the west. This appears to be the result of "old" Route 8's relocation in the early 1950s when its right-of-way was shifted eastward to align with the old Interurban Railway roadbed, and widened to four lanes. The restaurant is also hemmed in by the MetroParks Bike & Hike Trail to the east, and a stub of the old Bone Road to the south. (This is a bit of a mystery, since the Village vacated Bone Road years ago, but the County somehow resurrected it to provide access to the Bike & Hike Trail).
The restaurant seems to have gravelled an ad hoc parking lot across the street, within one of these parcels but also apparently within the public right-of-way. It is not known whether this was ever cleared with the Village Zoning authority.
Mr. Dale Perez appeared to explain the company's application for a variance to built a patio along the street side of the restaurant. Apparently the Akron-Cleveland Road right-of-way, as expanded in the 1950s to provide for four lanes of Route 8, runs quite close to the front of the building. The restaurant is seeing additional competition from new development in Hudson, and wishes to expand its summer seating to the outdoors. He explained that the front yard is the only practical location for a patio, since (already limited) parking is to the north, the septic system to the west, and a shared driveway to the south. Mr. Perez's site plan sketch showed the requested patio extending 20-24 feet into the front yard, either up to or actually into the right-of-way.
The Board took note of the following: Zoning Code 1159.06 requires a 20-foot setback from the right-of-way. In addition, Zoning Code 1141 defines the front yard (1141.46) and street line (1141.40) such that the reference line for the right-of-way is the "inside line of land reserved for street purposes". However, Zoning Code 1171.07(c) permits a "paved terrace" to extend 10 feet into the front yard; this appears to be a front-yard restriction on Zoning Code 1171.07(b) with otherwise allows some terraces to extend to within 2 feet of the "adjacent lot line". Deputy Solicitor Jason Dodson opined that Zoning Code 1171.07(c) also defines a maximum terrace extension of 10 feet into a front yard. He also agreed that it was not in the Board's power to allow private construction in the public right-of-way, even if it wanted to.
On questioning from the Board, Mr. Perez stated that he had a survey conducted when he purchased the property, but was not certain how it related to the lot lines shown on his sketch. He said he expected to put up a fence or wall around the patio to keep patrons from wandering toward the road. He also noted that the edge of the roadway itself was over 30 feet from the proposed patio.
On a motion by Mr. Lightner, the Board of Zoning Appeals granted a variance of Zoning Code 1171.07(c) and Zoning Code 1159.06 to allow construction of a patio as decribed, extending a maximum of 24 feet from the building front, but not to closer than 2 feet to the Akron-Cleveland Road right-of-way, and only to be based on survey information found acceptable by Village Engineer Steve Schreiber. Special conditions were noted in that the lots were highly irregular and cut up by the roadway, alternative locations were not feasible, and the edge of the right-of-way was distant from the roadway, which was reduced in service level from its original highway use. The Board's vote was unanimous.
Resolution:
Consideration of Planning Commission Application Form and Fee Schedule
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