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Home-business approval divides neighbors
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - October 08, 2009)
Home-business approval divides neighbors
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A Burton Township resident told Township Trustees Monday that neighbors are at odds, because the township allowed a business that does not conform to zoning.
"We are at odds with our neighbor that has been there for years. because the township didn't follow its own regulations," Georgia Road resident Kurt Updegraff said.
He said he would no longer complain about what originally was called a "small-engine repair" business at 14950 Georgia Road because of the conflict it has created. Despite township regulations that call for home occupations to be accessory uses for the property, he said, the property's primary use has become a commercial-retail operation, essentially a rezoning.
"You won't hear any more about this from me," Mr. Updegraff said. "It's bad for Mervin, it's bad for me, and it's bad for people in this township who rely on the zoning."
The township's zoning board of appeals approved a conditional-use permit for Mervin Miller to operate the business in March.
Trustees said they would ask a member of the appeals board to attend a meeting to explain the reasoning for the board's decision. In addition, trustees said they intend to consult with the Geauga County Prosecutor's Office.
Mr. Updegraff said the business now regularly receives deliveries from semi-tractor trailer trucks and smaller trucks. He said the large trucks cannot pull into the driveway and have to park on the road.
He said township zoning regulations call for a plan or map to be presented when applicants go before the zoning board. But he said the plan presented failed to show the proposed parking, additional fuel tanks, a Dumpster, signs, the driveway or the shed being used. "According to the zoning ordinances, that information was required," he said. "It shouldn't have been accepted without all the information required."
Township Zoning Inspector Robert Pealer said the intent of home-occupation zoning is that any business would not supplant the primary residential use of the area.
Mr. Updegraff said the area is zoned for residential use, an R-5 classification. But he said allowing the business essentially rezoned the property to a commercial-retail operation.
He said the township zoning code also requires that sales be allowed only for items produced in the dwelling unit. But he said washing machines, log splitters and chain saws that are not produced there are being sold.
And, he said, the business is operating out of shed, not the home there. He pointed to two instances in the zoning code that refer to sales from the dwelling unit only. "It's in black and white in your code," he said.
Mr. Updegraff said zoning board members indicated during a hearing on the application that the business was not likely to impact the home values in the area. But he questioned how prospective buyers would view a semi pulling up in front of his home and parking.
Mr. Updegraff said he was withdrawing any objection he has to the business, because it is creating friction with his neighbor and the Amish community, and he values their relationships.
"I hope I don't sound angry, but I am," he said.
Mr. Pealer said he has spoken to Mr. Miller regarding the parking on the roadway. He said Mr. Miller has assured him the operation will be quieter when he actually opens the business.
He said Mr. Miller also told him he has retained legal counsel over the issue.
Mr. Updegraff said zoning enforcement is imposed on neighbors, who must spy on the business to report any violations.
Township Zoning Inspector Joanne George said the hearing only included three members of the board, and two of them were relatively new alternates.
Mr. Pealer said that, at least two times during the hearing, he asked whether board members had read the definition for home occupations. He said no conditions were set at the time of approval and that any conditions on the business were to be derived from the minutes of the meeting.
"The judgment from the board erodes the rules I'm supposed to uphold," Mr. Pealer said.
Trustee Daniel Whiting said the situation is a sad one for all involved. "It's a no-win situation," he said.
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