February 16, 2023 - Planning Commission Minutes

PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES

Date: February 16, 2023                                                           Chair Chuck Hawk called the hearing to order at 7 PM.

A meeting of the Brewster Village Planning Commission has been scheduled for Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7 PM in the Brewster Community Room at 110 Main St. SE., Brewster, Ohio. This meeting was advertised in the Canton repository on February 5, 2023.

Role Call: Chuck Hawk, Jerry Layne, Joe Musacchia, Sydney Radich, and Wendy Schumacher.

ITEM #1:

First item on the agenda of the public hearing was on and to consider the zoning map amendment initiated by MSP Properties of Ohio, L.P. on behalf of the property owner Paul Weaver to consider a request for a proposed zoning map amendment to the Village Zoning Code. This request is to rezone parcel 7001551 from R-3 (single, two, and multiple family) to B-1 (Neighborhood Business).

The applicant, Matthew Indorate, was given the opportunity to provide information regarding the application for this zoning amendment. He was sworn in by Kris King. 

Matthew Indorate attended on behalf of MSP Developments, a commercial developer out of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. They are a developer that works in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and many other states that the bulk of which is in Ohio and Pennsylvania.  They have clients such as Dollar General, Tractor Supply Company, a newer client, Tidal Wave Car Wash. This particular property that was are discussing reviewing, is currently a car wash, although it is zoned residential as discovered when they dug into the paperwork. In this situation, they had Dollar General come to them to find them a location in Brewster and they felt this would be a perfect location for them.  The first step in this development is to get a zoning change to B1 so they could get the ball rolling with the planning of the property.

Mayor Hawk thanked Matthew Indorate.  Zoning Inspector Mike Miller was not able to be here this evening. Mayor Hawk stated moving on from here, the Planning Commission is going to make a recommendation to Council to make a zoning change.  He asked if anyone on Planning Commission would like to ask questions about the development.  No questions asked.

The public was then given the opportunity to make comments and ask questions:

Mike Schwab from 363 North Wabash, 3 blocks south of the car wash, was sworn in by Kris King.  He stated that he had the opportunity to read the application presented to the planning commission and that it is a little misleading.  He lived in Brewster in 1967 when the car wash was built.  That was the end of the town.  The surrounding areas were farms and woods and was residential. In 1974 is when the zoning came into play.  They started building on the Glick farm where the streets of Scioto, Muskingum, and Tuscarawas were built and it became a residential area.  Ray Wentling had a car wash and an exception was made for the car wash and The Anchor bar.  It was called a non-conforming use which means it does not fit the area that they desired the area to be, which was residential. It could be used as another non-conforming use but not that had an impact more than the car wash. Also- said if it was not used for more than two years, it would go back to residential property, which is what happened to The Anchor that was then Jer’s Pizza.  The building caught fire and was tore down.  It is still empty, and that empty property is residential and no longer business or non-conforming use.  In 1974, Village Council and the Mayor at that time had the wisdom to recognize that area as residential. They kind of made a deal with the residents that if you build a house in this area, the most impact you will ever have is a car wash. As you know, since we have a Family Dollar down the street that has a lot more impact than a car wash as there is a lot more traffic than a car wash.  Delivery Trucks in and out. As a Dollar General would have the same traffic. I oppose what this gentleman wants to do. I beg of planning commission not to do this. People up there deserve better than having a Dollar General plopped in their neighborhood and all that comes with that. Stay with what it should be and if not a car wash, it should be something less, not something more. I thank you and please don’t do this.

Mayor Hawk thanked Mike Schwab.

Mayor Hawk asked if anyone else wanted to speak.

Brenda Mynk, 118 Glick Street, right across from the car wash.  Brenda was sworn in by Kris King.  She does not want a Dollar General across the street in her neighborhood.  She did not buy a house to have a Dollar General across from her.  She does oppose this.  Mayor Hawk thanked her and asked if anyone else wanted to speak.

Sherry Alexander,117 Glick Street, across from the car wash was sworn in by Kris King.  She was born and raised here all her life but did come and go some.  Wintered in Arizona and saw the destruction of the Dollar General and the poison they bring.  “With the election, I was never so proud to come back with all the flags.  I couldn’t thank the town enough.. I tried many times to leave this town, but this is my hill. For what the Dollar General represents and what your company represents, no…absolutely not.. I have researched your company; we could do a colonoscopy on all you folks. The president, Donald Trump has told us what is coming with this type of business, so absolutely not.  We have kept our properties clean, and we are a family community and with that I thank you and thank you all for being here.”

Mayor Hawk asked if anyone else would like to speak.

Scott Carroll was sworn in by Kris King. He lives at 482 Park Drive across the street from where you want to do this event. He moved in here for 60 years, still at the  same location.  “Brewster is a nice town, and everyone keeps their place up.  Back in the day that was all woods over there.  We still have trees.  There are at least 9 deer off my patio in the back.  Neighbors will testify that you will ruin our community if you move in like that.  It’s not fair to the older generation.”

Dorothy Carrol 482 Park Drive SE Brewster sworn in by Kris King.  “I was under the understanding that where the gun club was is where you want to put the Dollar General.”  It was clarified that is the second thing we are talking about tonight.   Dorothy indicated that is what Scott was talking about.  He was confused that’s why she had to ask.  “I stand by this town is a great one and well-kept and I would like to see it kept that way and think everyone is doing a great job.” 

Mayor thanked her and asked if anyone else wanted to make a comment.

Mr. Les Kamph, a Tuslaw guy was sworn in by Kris King.  “Thank you for saying for God.  We have a house right behind 675 Wells right behind the car wash.  The map doesn’t show me anything on where the Dollar General is going.  There is an alley back there right next to our house. The map didn’t do anything for me. All these people who live here have the right to have what they want right next to them.  Is it going past that alley?  I’m sorry you didn’t draw the map too good. My house is back here on Wells.” Some discussion was held between Matthew Indorate and Les Kamph on clarification of the details of the map.  “I oppose it. I don’t live there but I own it and the couple is buying it through land contract and they don’t want it either.” Mayor Hawk thanked him and asked if there were any others who wanted to comment.

Brenda Mynk asked, “if this Dollar General comes in with their poison,are they gonna have ivermectin? President Trump told us all these different illnesses from the nasty foods from the Dollar General can be healed by ivermectim because we have so much farms and foods that are nutritious for us and our children.  Can you tell us are you just going to bring your poison?”

Matthew Indorate states he is just the developer and he would be the landlord in this situation. He stated he can’t speak to what Dollar General would have at their store.  Brenda Mynk thanked Matthew Indorate for “showing us the communism”.

Mayor Hawk stated there is a Planning Commission member who wants to make a comment.  Joseph Musacchia in reference to Mike Schwab’s comments.  He has been on the Planning Commission for some time and recalls that in a previous meeting it was stated that it would never be changed from the car wash.  The new owner should have understood this.  Mike Schwab doesn’t recall but when Danny Creco owned it, he came to village hall and asked if he could sell it to someone to develop. He was told no.  Joseph Musacchia again stated it would never be anything but a car wash.

Mayor Hawk stated anything the public wishes the planning commission to consider should come to this meeting or public hearing.  Planning commission members are under no obligation to discuss and in fact have been discouraged from discussing the application outside of this meeting or public hearing.

Kris King said there was one letter.   The gentleman was unable to make the meeting.  Donald Zearley, who owns North and East of Parcel 700151, would like to state his opposition due to the safety of his tenants which many are young families with children.  There is a copy of his letter available.

Mayor Hawk thanked her for reading.

Following the presentation and questions of the February 16 meeting the Planning Commission shall consider the application and make its finding public and approve or disapprove the application after said public hearing.

Les Kamph questioned if once this zoning is changed, can any business go in there? He then stated that “if it changes zoning it could be any business that could go in there”.

Mayor Hawk stated he is not comfortable changing the zoning.  Kris King presented questions from the Zoning Administrator to consider before voting:

1)      Would the proposed zoning change encourage or detract from any development envisioned by the comprehensive plan for the community?

2)      Is the proposed zoning in keeping with the intent and purpose of zoning in the village?

3)      Was the zoning of the property unreasonable at the time it was originally zoned?

4)      Is the zoning of this property now unreasonable because of changing conditions in the area?

5)      Would the rezoning of this property require rezoning of other areas in the community in order to encourage development as envisioned by the comprehensive plan for the village due to the increase or decrease in the amounts of land in the zones affected?

6)      Would the rezoning and subsequent development of this property place a burden on the community in terms of providing public facilities, infrastructure, and services?

7)       Would the rezoning and subsequent development of this property create any safety hazards or nuisance factors?

Kris King stated the Planning Commission should consider these questions in their motion for this rezoning application.  She also asked that when they make their motion to please mention anything we discussed so we can include it in the findings of your motion.

Joe Musacchia made a motion to disapprove the zoning application according to the findings. Sydney Radich seconded the motion.  See Attachment A for the full motion and findings.

Mayor Hawk asked if there were any other questions. Mayor Hawk stated he was voting yes, agreeing with the motion of disapproving the zoning change.  All the Planning Commission members voted yes to disapprove the rezoning of the parcels.  Mayor Hawk stated that the application has been denied and this ends this part of the meeting.

ITEM #2:

Mayor Hawk stated there was a second proposal this evening. At the end of East Main Street.  Kris King swears in John Walsh. He is with GBC Design Engineers and Surveyors for the project.  They are requesting conditional use zoning to build 28 attached single family units on simple lots.  It is not a condominium project.  Each person will own their property.  They are proposing private streets and sidewalks within the development. They have to construct a portion on Main Street back to the development.  Not sure if the village wants that to be public or private. Everything past that would be private. Mr. Walsh stated they need to work out the details of public or private street going in.  He introduced his team Mike Boylan, realtor and Glenna Wilson, builder of the project. One builder so the quality and aesthetics are kept in control.  Streets will be private.  When you purchase a lot, it is mandatory to become part of the HOA.  The project will provide maintenance of the streets, sidewalks, lawn maintenance, snow plowing.  Future buyers have the opportunity to own property. They have done density counts which fall within the allowable density amounts. The allowable density is 38 permissible and this proposal is for only 28 units. There was a question about technical reports and Mayor Hawk said they would not talk about that this evening. Tonight, we just want to hear the overview so they know what we would need to change for zoning.

Glenna Wilson was sworn in and presented that they would build twin units and they would be an active adult community. They are building one in Green, Ohio.  She has been building for 23 years and is the founder of the company.  Her philosophy is that they would be quality and are energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Received 6^th US housing award. Every day there are 10,000 people that turn 65 in this country. There is a housing shortage for the 55 plus community.  Units that people can age in place. She edified John Walsh as she has worked with him since 2007.  The houses will be 1600-2000 square feet.  All on one floor. Could be wheelchair accessible, higher toilets, etc.  There is a statistic that if you live in a home that you can age properly you will live 7—8 years longer.   She thinks this would be a nice addition to the community.

Someone asked if they would be affordable. Glenna stated they will be somewhere between $250,000-300,000. In Green they have sold 45 in 26 months.  She believes the demand is there. Epcon is the franchise in 19 states and 90 builder partners like herself.  Reliable company with a great product.  They will have 2 car garages. HOA will cover mowing your yard, snow plowing and trash. People get to pick your lot and at least 3 floor plans to choose from. HOA will be around $200 per month.

Mayor Hawk thanked them.  Consideration of a conditional use permit in the form of a Planned Use Development for parcels 10014304 and 7001901(Parcel 7001902 has been added) zoned R1 and R3 submitted by 2004 Zephyr Projects Inc.  The Planning Commission will consider the submission/plat at the preliminary plan stage of the process.  The purpose of the preliminary plan stage is to present data which may enable the Planning Commission to determine whether the prosed plan layout is satisfactory and will serve the public interest. 

Kris King asked if any of the public wanted to provide comment or have questions.  Kris King swore in Timothy Rhodes from Massillon Ohio who was there for his sister Elaine Larson. Widow of Chester Larson.  Very familiar with Brewster been coming here since 6 years old.  He sees one problem with these plans.  The issue is that the land may contain lead from skeet shooting. He was a federal food and drug inspector for years.  There are legal issues that may come into play where there might be large amounts of lead.  Mayor said he was told by Zephyr Projects that they got a clean bill of inspections from the last two owners. John Walsh said the current homes were built with County money.  And if there was not a clean inspection, they would not have been able to use government money. Mayor Hawk says they will verify the paperwork and will do the inspection again if needed.  Village would furnish water, sewer and electric.

The Planning Commission was provided by the Zoning Administrator a copy of ORC 153.395 general regulations on planned unit developments. There were markup comments for the Leecrest Holdings, LLC planned unit development shown in the red on the printout.  They were also provided with a letter from Stark County Regional Planning Commission referencing Leecrest Holdings, LLC, Planned Unit Development (PUD) Preliminary Plan review and consideration of a Conditional Use Permit.

Mayor asked if there were questions.  It was asked if they were going to be private streets. Yes.  Water, Sewer and Electric will be taken to private streets, but they will have to pay for hookup.  John Walsh said this would not be a burden on the Village.  It would be the responsibility of the HOA.  Question asked if there would be a clubhouse or pool.  Twenty-eight units is not enough to support a clubhouse or pool.

Question-A lot of older people living on that street.  How long will the noise be for building these houses?  How long will the neighbors have to listen to the noise of these being pounded out?  Glenna Wilson stated they would like to start construction this summer and start a model.  After that the market would determine when houses get built.  There was a question about the drives coming out onto Park Street for two double units.  John Walsh explained that one of the double units will come on Park Drive. The other will not come out on Park Drive due to sight lines.

Mayor Hawk shared information from Mike Miller:  In addition to the conditional use request, the Planning Commission needs to concurrently approve a PLAT for the PUD which shall include a preliminary plan stage. The purpose of the preliminary plan stage is to present data which may enable the Planning Commission to determine whether the proposed plan layout is satisfactory and will serve the public interest. Subsequent to the approval of the Preliminary Plan Stage Plat, additionally there shall be a construction plan stage.  The construction plan stage requires the subdivider to present all information needed to enable the Village Administrator and Utility Departments to check the drainage areas and determine that the storm sewers, sanitary sewers, water lines and material for street construction meet the requirements of all applicable standards and regulations. Final Plat stage: After having constructed the applicable improvements as provided in the construction plan, the final plat stage requires the subdivider to present a complete survey plat (showing all necessary easements, deed covenants for maintenance and the like)  to enable the commission to determine that the subdivision fully complies with these regulations and conforms to the approved preliminary plan and the construction plan.

Mayor Hawk asked that the Planning Commission minutes from August 27, 2020; February 17, 2022 and April 21, 2022 be approved. Jerry Layne moved, seconded by Sydney Radich and motion carried to approve the minutes from all three meetings.   All voted yes.

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Kris King, Clerk-Treasurer

 

Charles B. Hawk, Mayor