DRAFT
DEERFIELD
TOWNSHIP
BOARD
OF ZONING APPEALS
6:30
PM – June 9, 2004
MINUTES
Brian
Leary welcomed and introduced the new alternate board member, Mike Kean.
ROLL CALL:
James Rinehart, Cherry Linder,
William Heckman, Brian Leary, and Alternate Mike Kean were present. Jim Klatte
was absent with notice.
CALL TO
ORDER:
Minutes
Motion by Jim Rinehart to approve the minutes of 04/14/2005.
There
was a 2nd by Cherry Linder.
Roll Call: Brian Leary-Yes, James Rinehart-Yes, Cherry
Linder-Yes, Mike Kean-Yes, William Heckman-Yes. The motion was approved.
Mr. Leary
administered the oath to those who will be giving testimony.
CASE 2005-265 Conditional Use in
Residential Single Family , for Synagogue @
8596 Lake Chetac Drive
Staff
Presentation
Mayank Kumar gave the staff
report. He said the application is for a religious place of worship which is a
principle permitted use under Residential Single Family Zoning. He showed photos
of the old factory and the property around it.
The former factory property has been vacant for the last five
years.
The proposal is to use the existing building with improvements and
remodeling.
They plan a
gravel parking lot with 27 parking spaces.
They showed
some landscaping between the parking lot and the road.
The floor plan
showedshows
a sanctuary with seating for 112. He said there were some concerns about the
traffic on the street and Larry Weis of our Public Works Department said that
Lake Chetac was constructed according to the correct specifications.
Mr. Kumar gave the
Warren
County
agency reports as follows:
Warren County Engineer’s
Office: An email dated May 25, 2005 stated “We do not have any concerns with
the concept plan. However, much more detail will be necessary in the future for
a meaningful site plan review. Future information to include grading plan,
floodplain limits and elevations, storm water management design, location of
existing and proposed utilities, roadway/drives etc.”
Warren County Sanitary
Engineer: An email dated June 1, 2005 stated that the property is currently
provided sewer service by Warren County and the water service is provided to the
property by the Butler County. A copy of plans was sent to Butler County for
their comments regarding the water service.
Warren County Soil and Water
Conservation District: A letter dated May 27, 2005 included following
comments:
- The project encompasses
about an acre and does not require an Erosion and Sediment Control Fee or
formal plan according to the Warren County Erosion and Sediment Control
Regulations. The exemption from submitting a plan however, does not preclude
the use of sound erosion control practices during construction and the
developer is responsible for following all other provisions of the
Regulations.
- Perimeter controls along
with timely seeding where appropriate will provide protection for the site.
The plans are approved.
- With regard to water
quality, an EPA permit is not needed if less than one acre of land is
disturbed. This project will likely fall just under an acre of disturbance
therefore this office will not require water quality to be addressed. However,
a gravel parking lot of healthy grassed/ trees buffer to the stream can
provide benefit. Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District will make
inspections during construction to assure compliance with regulations.
- Deerfield Township Fire
Department: No objection.
Mr. Kumar
explained seven standards for granting a Conditional Use in Deerfield Township
in reference to Section 6.07 D.
He had
some concerns regarding the parking area, landscaping, lighting, signage, and
proximity to residential uses. The staff recommended approval with 13 conditions
as follows:
The Township Board of Zoning
Appeals shall approve, approve with modification, or deny the submitted
conditional use request based on Section 6.07(C) of Deerfield Township Zoning
Resolution, unless additional information is deemed necessary to make an
informed decision. In the event of approval the Board shall state specific
findings for each of the “Standards for Conditional use” and staff recommends
the following conditions:
1. A
formal set of drawings including all site improvement and details, drawn to
scale not exceeding 1:100, shall be submitted addressing all the conditions
listed below. No permit of any kind shall be issued without receipt of such
information.
2.
All existing parking for the user of the facility shall be limited to on-site
and shall not be permitted within the public right-of-ways. The sanctuary and
fellowship hall may not both be utilized at the same time.
3.
The parking lot and access drives shall be improved in compliance with Section
20.05, Development and Maintenance of Parking Areas, of Deerfield Township
Zoning Resolution.
4.
One (1) off-street loading space of 10’x25’ shall be required in compliance with
Section 20.08, Off-Street Loading Design Standards, of Deerfield Township Zoning
Resolution.
5. A
Landscaping Plan shall be submitted in compliance with Chapter 22, Bufferyards
and Landscaping, of Deerfield Township Zoning Resolution to include following:
a. A minimum
of fifteen (15) feet wide bufferyard along east and west property line planted
with a staggered double row of evergreen trees planted at fifteen (15) feet
on-center along with a row of six (6) feet high hedge except along east property
line where building is located with ten (10) feet setback only. The above stated
landscaping shall be accommodated within available ten (10) feet bufferyard.
b. Parking area
shall have perimeter buffer zones of a minimum width of 6.5 feet containing a
row of minimum 2 ½” caliper trees planted at thirty (30) feet on-center along
with a row of minimum three (3) feet high bushes planted at three (3) feet
on-center between the trees.
c. Parking lot
landscaping shall require interior landscaping islands. For each 100 square feet
or fraction thereof of vehicular use area, at least five square feet of
landscape area shall be provided.
d. Existing
vegetation shall be preserved in accordance with acceptable nursery industry
procedures.
6.
All activity on the entire facility shall be limited between 8:00 a.m. to 11:00
p.m. on any day. All activities in the fellowship hall shall terminate by 9:30
p.m.
7.
The fellowship hall shall not be used for living accommodations or transient
lodging in any manner.
8.
Parking lot lighting shall include a maximum twelve (12) feet high light poles
with full cut-off lighting fixtures. Any building mounted lighting fixture shall
not exceed ten (10) feet height with full cut-off lighting fixture. A formal
lighting plan shall be prepared and submitted prior to issuance of zoning permit
showing location of all lighting fixtures and the illumination level on the
entire property. The illumination level shall not exceed 10 footcandles at any
location and 0.2 along all property lines except the access drive locations.
9.
Signage shall be in compliance with Chapter 22, Signs, of Deerfield Township
Zoning Resolution.
10.
Owner shall provide a letter of approval from Warren County Engineer’s Office
for the interior circulation, site improvement, and Stormwater Management. If
required by Warren County Engineer’s Office, Stormwater Management Plan shall be
prepared at developer’s expense and a copy shall be submitted to the Deerfield
Township Zoning Office.
11.
Owner shall provide a letter of approval from Deerfield Township Fire Department
for interior circulation, emergency access, and location of fire hydrants.
12.
Owner shall provide a letter of approval from Warren County Soil and Water
Conservation District for Soil and Erosion Control.
13.
Compliance with Warren County Subdivision Regulations, if applicable.
Board
Questions
Mr. Kumar asked for any board
questions. Ms. Linder had concerns about the parking.
She asked Mr.
Kumar if they
were
are supposed to
have 68 spaces. Mr. Kumar said yes and the plan
showedshows
27.
Ms. Linder asked him if there is enough land to make that many
more parking spaces. Mr. Rinehart said the code says we must do so many spaces
per the building size. Mr. Leary asked Mr. Kumar to show the photo again of the
building. Mr. Kumar explained the photos and the setback. Mr. Kumar said the
minimum front setback
was
is 50 feet but
this is an existing building. Mr. Heckman asked what the setback for the
parking lot
was.
is. Mr. Kumar
said it
wasis
30-35 feet setback there. Mr. Leary asked about the current building and the
seating capacity and asked if there would be an issue with the parking. Mr.
Kumar said yes. He also asked Mr. Kumar the original use. Mr. Kumar said there
was an industrial use. Mr. Leary asked if the properties on either side are
currently occupied. Mr. Kumar said yes. Mr. Kean asked if the building runs
parallel to the lot boundary lines. Mr. Kumar said they need a better copy of
surveyed drawings.
Proponent Timothy G. Branham,
6449 Snidercrest Road, Mason,
said he
wasis
the site manager / contractor on this project. Mr. Branham
describedsaid
this is a 7500 square foot abandoned warehouse. It
wasis
in desperate need of repair. He said they
wouldwill
update the entire property and remodel the interior of the building.
It
wouldwill
be nicely landscaped to the
Deerfield
Township
code. Mr. Branham said he has been in contact with the Warren County Agencies
in regard to this property. Mr. Leary asked him if he
would beis
putting a new roof on the building.
Mr. Branham explained the roof and where the major repairs must be
done. Mr. Branham said he
wasis
working with the architect to get the floor plan but
didn’tdoesn’t
feel they should pay for an architect until they see if this concept
would beis
approved tonight. Ms. Linder asked him where on the site he could come up with
more parking. Mr. Branham said the sanctuary seats 112 but there are only 30
people attending right now. Mr. Leary said he was concerned that down the road
there may be many people and not enough room. Mr. Leary asked if the parking
could be reconfigured. Mr. Branham explained the parking lot for the factory
and where that
wascurrently
is and where they could add the additional parking. Mr. Rinehart
was concerned about the creek near the property.
Mark Fish, 8903 Penfield
Way, Maineville, OH, said that he and his wife live in Landen and work
in Mason and said that he is the president of the congregation. He said as a
homeowner he would have questions and he appreciated where the residents were
coming from. Mr. Fish said they meet twice a week on either Friday night or
Saturday morning. During the school year they also meet for Sunday School.
There is a membership of 50 families but 10 to 30 people attend regularly. Mr.
Fish said they have no intention of becoming a mega synagogue. Mr. Fish said
that Mr. Kumar’s condition that the sanctuary and educational area not be used
at the same time was acceptable to him and would work to make sure they would be
using the property as directed. He said they have been around for 6 years but
have been meeting at St. Anne’s Episcopal in West Chester Township. He said
that they would be good neighbors. Mr. Rinehart asked if they have purchased
the property yet. Mr. Fish said no. Mr. Leary closed this portion of the case
and asked for any public who would like to speak to come forward.
Concerned Citizens Jim Woeste,
6960 Lake Chetac Drive,
Cinti., OH, said he
livedlives
closer to Butler-Warren and
was
is the 3rd
house on the street. Mr. Woeste did not agree with what Mr. Kumar said
concerning the street width. He said that the standard residential street is 22
feet wide and this street is only 14 feet wide. Mr. Woeste said when the
religious services let out there would be 27 cars driving down his street. Mr.
Rinehart asked if he had talked to Larry Weis about the narrowness of the road.
Mr. Woeste said when two cars meet, one must get off the road in order to let
the other pass. Mr. Heckman asked considering the factory was there, do you
think this
would beis
an improvement. Mr. Woeste said he had no problem with any place of worship
going in there but he said there
wasis
a problem with the street.
Diana Schmidt, 8282 Gustin-Rider
Road, Blanchester, OH, said she is a property owner at 6885 Lake Chetac
Drive where her mother lives. Diana said she disagreed that the synagogue would
stay small because most places of worship would always want to grow and she felt
that it is unrealistic to say any such place won’t grow. She also did not agree
with the concept that only certain parts of the building would be used at a
time. Mrs. Schmidt was concerned about the parking but said the improvements to
the building would be welcomed. She said going from grass to a gravel parking
lot is not an improvement. She said she didn’t want the road widened because it
would take the frontage from her property where her mother lives. Mrs. Schmidt
said it was a gravel road when she was younger. Mrs. Schmidt said she is there
every day because her mom is a shut in and she said she did not believe that
traffic was high volume on the street.
Desi Murphy, 8616
Lake
Chetac, Cinti., OH, said the cul-de-sac was put in so there would be room for
the loading dock for the previous factory owner. He said there is traffic to
the fishing lake on the weekend but not so much on week days. He said the back
side of the property has flooding when it rains so that area could not be used
for parking. Mr. Leary asked where the parking for the fishermen
was.is.
Mr. Murphy said they parked
all around the rim of the 3 acre lake. Mr. Murphy showed on the map how they
drive back to fish. Mr. Leary asked him what the factory was used for. Mr.
Murphy said
at one time they did sheet metal work
there.
Joan Walcher,
8555 Lake Chetac Drive,
Cinti., OH,
pointed out her house on the map and said she has
lived there for 43 years. She said the building in question was a small metal
shop and they added on to the building over the years. She said the factory
sometimes had 3 shifts working. She said there would be 18 wheeler trucks. She
said just like Mrs. Schmidt said, that the congregation would grow and she
didn’t feel there would be adequate parking. Mr. Leary asked her about the pay
fishing lake and the traffic.
She said the traffic flow
wasn’tisn’t
bad because there
wereare
so few residents on the street but the fishing lake draws people. She said she
would rather see the “eye sore” than have the traffic.
Desi Murphy, 8616 Lake Chetac,
Cinti., OH, said his girlfriend owns the fishing lake. He said during
the week it varies according to the weather but sometimes there are 2 cars a
day, sometimes 35 a day but on the weekends
there could be 60-70 cars. Mr. Murphy said it is open 24 hours a day except on
Monday.
Diana Schmidt, 8282 Gustin-Rider
Road, Blanchester, OH, said not everyone was notified on the street.
She said that her property is 6885 Lake Chetac Drive, and she only heard about
this meeting from a neighbor. Mayank Kumar said the parcels within 300 feet of
the subject address were notified.
Mark Fish, 8903 Penfield
Way, Maineville, OH, said that he wanted to respond to questions about
growth. Mr. Fish said they are currently a 50 family congregation with low
attendance for the services.
Mr. Fish said
he would not want or expect any large growth. There were some questions asked
about weddings. Mr. Fish said the spaces would be adequate for the sanctuary
seating. He said large wedding receptions would have to be held elsewhere. He
said if they needed additional parking for some big event, they could have an
agreement with another
congregationcongreation
to allow parking there.
Mr. Leary
closed the floor discussion.
Board
Discussion
Jim Rinehart said he
was
is hung up on
the parking. Mr. Dean said there should be 41 parking spaces and that should be
a condition. One board member said that 41 cars a week would not put that much
stress on the road. Mr. Leary said he had an issue with the parking, also. Ms.
Linder said this lot is a huge problem because of the parking.
Motion
Motion by Jim Rinehart to deny 2005-265 for
the reason of parking issues
and traffic. There was a 2nd
by Brian Leary.
Mr. Heckman said he would feel
more comfortable if the applicant would have an opportunity to re-apply showing
additional parking. Mr. Kumar said he believed there would not be enough space
on the property due to the flood plain in the back for additional parking unless
they remove part of the building. Ms. Linder asked could we put something in
the motion, there
that if the applicant must re-submit, we
would
could
waive the
fee. Mr. Rinehart asked if we table the case would they have to re-submit .
Mr. Kumar said if we table this
case, and they would be willing to come back,
there would not be more fees. Mr. Leary wanted them to understand that even if
they re-submit, there is no guarantee that this
case would be approved.
The board asked the proponent to come back to the podium and
if he would be willing to make some changes. Mark Fish, 8903 Penfield Way,
Maineville, OH, thanked the board for trying to work with them. He said
he would like to talk to his board about this. Mr. Heckman asked Mr. Fish if he
was interested because of the square feet or the cost. Mr. Fish they have been
looking for property for 3 years. He said the remodeling would be cheaper than
starting from scratch. Mr. Kumar asked Mr. Branham if he would get some good
architectural drawings. Tim Branham, 6649 Snidercrest Drive, Mason, OH
45040 said he would be willing to work with an architect to come up with
a plan for this property.
Lois
McKnight said they should work out a time line for this case so that if they
don’t return within 4 months or 6 months the case would closed.
Motion
Motion by Jim Rinehart to withdraw his motion
on Case 2005-265 for denial.
There was a 2nd by
Cherry Linder.
Roll Call: William Heckman-Yes, James Rinehart-Yes, Brian
Leary-Yes, Cherry Linder-Yes, Mike Kean-Yes The motion was approved.
Mr. Leary
said we need to make a motion to table this under a specific timeline. Jim
Rinehart said he was concerned about the letter from Dave Mick at Warren County
regarding the condition of Lake Chetac Drive for a residential area. Mayank
suggested the time line for the tabling be November of 2005.
Motion Motion by Brian Leary to table
Case 2005-265, a conditional use in R-SF, for a Synagogue at
8596 Lake Chetac Drive. The
motion was to table the case for up to 6 months with the applicant to return
with plans that specifically address the parking issues that include a suitable
site plan as recommended by staff and that staff address the road issues with
Public Works. There was a 2nd by Jim Rinehart.
Roll Call: James Rinehart-Yes, Cherry Linder-Yes, Brian
Leary-Yes, William Heckman-Yes, Mike Kean-Yes The motion was approved.
New
Business
Jim Rinehart talked about the 20 Mile House Restaurant and
the sign which was approved by this board. There was discussion on them
continuing to use temporary signs in violation of what was suggested at the BZA
meeting. Lois McKnight explained that the zoning department has called them and
visited them in order to get the temporary signs removed.
Adjourn
Motion to adjourn by Cherry Linder. 2nd by William
Heckman.
Roll Call: William Heckman-Yes, James Rinehart-Yes, Cherry
Linder-Yes, Mike Kean-Yes Brian Leary-Yes The motion was approved.
__________________________________
__________________________________
Brian Leary, Chairperson
Date William Heckman,
Secretary Date
H BZA06
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