05/26/2004 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Special Council Minutes of 5/26/2004 The western terminus of the lot is bordered by eight (8) homes on Ranchview Drive. To the east is a narrow parcel substarvially zoned General Business Retail. To the north lies a number of residentially zoned undeveloped parcels. Timber Cove Drive is north of that. The Planning Commission reviewed the rezoning ordinance on November 25, 2003. North Olmsted City Planner Kimberly Wenger reported to the Planning Commission that she believed the rezoning to be a reasonable use of the land, based upon the overall proposal, the developer working with residents immediately to the west of the project and the fact that this proposal was a development plan, as opposed to an earlier piecemeal proposal that did not take into consideration the entire parcel and consolidation. The Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval of Ordinance 2004-39. The Building, Zoning and Development Committee first reviewed Ordinance 2004-39 on March 9, 2004. This was before the April 20, 2004 public hearing on the ordinance. At that time, the Council was preserved with an outline of the project by City Planner Wenger and a representative of Gamey Volkswagen. Discussed was the concept of the Volkswagen building, a prototype dealership format, in order to bring homogeneity and brand recognition to the dealerships. Their goal is to develop each dealership the same way, from building materials to colors so that they have brand recognition. It was presented to the committee that Volkswagen will be consolidating its dealerships from two to three: North Olmsted will be the west side, Bedford will be the east. Following discussion, the committee unanimously recommended approval of Ordinance 2004-39. It was not reported out of committee as required by local rule of Council pending the public hearing. On April 21, 2004, the committee again took up the rezoning ordinance. Numerous residents from Ranchview, West Ranchview, and Timber Cove were present. Mr. Jordan Berns was present as was Planner Bob Hill. The discussion concerning the rezoning centered upon the feasibility of the split lot zone concept. Mr. Hill explained that split lot zoning as a means of buffering from adjacent residential properties, although once common, no longer served its purpose. He believed it to be an arbitrary and unenforceable zoning classification. Councilman Miller pointed out that Mr. Bill did not know the history of the zoning ordinance, did not know the history of North Olmsted and without such knowledge could not reach such a conclusion about the arbitrariness of the ordinance, much less anything else. Resident concerns were many, but included: loss of trees, buffering of residential property; decreased property values, noise, lighting, traffic and a general encroachment into residential property and run-off. Mr. Dubelko, Law Director, offered his opinion on the split lot zoning and included a summary of Ohio law on the constitutionality of split lot zoning. Included was a summary of the city's burden in defending its zoning ordinances and that Ohio law now allows for damages to be awarded to a developer if the zoning ordinance is ruled invalid. He noted that, while the playing field for years was slanted in favor of the municipality (whereby when a zoning ordinance was invalidated, the City merely changed the zoning), that changed with the Shemo decision in the recent past in the Ohio Supreme Court. Now a finding of invalidity carries with it potential economic damage claims from the developer. The committee on that night recommended by a vote of 2-0 to recommended approval of 2