The Windham Township Board of Trustees took decisive action on several key zoning issues, passing several new zoning amendments to the zoning code last Thursday evening at Windham Township Hall.
One key zoning amendment that was passed was made by Trustee and Road Contact Brian Miller, who proposed that all non-conforming lots, which are considered substandard lots, be converted into conforming lots with the use of a grandfather clause that would allow non-conforming lots to become conforming if they were originally created on properties that met the then zoning requirements.
“We have been discussing for a long time that all substandard lots should be grandfathered, and we have never made a decision on grandfathering those lots,” Miller told the Board. “80% are non-conforming lots presently.”
Miller’s proposal was a follow-up to previous discussions by the Board when Portage County Regional Planning Commission Director Todd Peetz had suggested that the Board institute a new zoning policy that allowed substandard lots to be grandfathered and be classified as conforming lots.
Miller was adamant about the proposal, saying that doing so would give the Township residents more freedom.
Board of Zoning Appeals Chairwoman Becky Phillips questioned Miller on what the true purpose was for approving such an amendment, as the new language would not make much difference. It would not eliminate the need for property owners of non-conforming lots to still to apply for variances and permits.
Ultimately, Miller’s motion was unanimously approved by the Board.
Fiscal Officer Casey Timmons said that she would send the new zoning amendment to the Windham Township Zoning Commission for further review.
Another amendment that was passed by the Board was to charge residents an appropriate fee for scheduling hearings with the BZA requesting permits to add more structures to their existing properties.
The Board had previously discussed adopting a new zoning amendment that reduced the frontage of lots from 200 to 150 feet, as lots that did not meet the initial frontage requirements had to request permits and variances to add to their properties.
“We still have problems where people can’t transfer property because of the frontage issue, it is a horrible thing,” Miller told the Board.
Instead of reducing the frontage, Miller suggested that the Board enforce a new policy that required the BZA to charge applicants a flat fee for scheduling a hearing.
Phillips was skeptical about Miller’s idea, as the Township was already losing money from charging fees to applicants, as the price that was set was set did not cover the costs that the Township incurred to pay the BZA’s stenographer for transcribing all of the notes from each hearing.
“If you guys can’t collect after the fact, you are inviting problems. I think you are complicating this,” she said.
BZA Vice Chairwoman Tricia Kendrick suggested that the Board add a policy to the amendment that if the Township did not receive payment from the applicant within a 30-day window after being approved for a permit, the Township could withhold the permit until the fee was paid. Another issue raised was that if an application for a permit was denied, how could the Board expect to collect payments from the applicant. Chairman, Fire Contact and Trustee Dan Burns said that if the application was denied, the Township would settle for a loss.
“We set the fees; that is something we can do without going to the appeals process, not having to go to the public meetings. That is something we can do legally. There are a lot of places to solve their problem. People are going to have pay the cost that it costs us,” Miller said.
Miller’s motion was approved by the Board by a 2-1 decision, with Vice Chairman, Cemetery Contact and Trustee Rich Gano voting against the motion.
The Board’s final zoning amendment was for the Board to create acceptable language that would allow township residents to install shipping containers on their property for storage or even construction needs.
Gano had previously researched other neighboring Township’s uses of shipping containers, with most Townships not permitting them. He added that another issue was the aesthetics of the container.
Kendrick noted that the Board needed to be mindful of residents painting inappropriate works of art on each box.
Township Zoning Inspector Jake Sweet suggested that each shipping container be classified as an accessory building requiring a permit.
“Should we make a motion to permit these but have to come up with the final language of how to make them look?” Burns asked the Board. “We should make a decision and say this is how it is. If we want to do it, do it. I would like some language for how it looks on the property.”
Burns’ motion was unanimously approved by the Board.
The Board also unanimously approved a motion to accept the resignation of WTZC member Craig Alderman.
Miller informed the Board that the Township had completed the chip & seal project on its potion of Hewins Road. He expressed gratitude to Project Manager Mike Collins of the Portage County Engineer’s Office for his assistance in securing the Township an affordable deal to have its portion of Hewins Road chipped & sealed, as the Township saved approximately $7,0000.
He added that the Township’s road workers performed another roadside cutting with the roadside mower but that they experienced problems with the mower and had to utilize an older model.
Miller said that Liberty Street and Gotham Road were each scheduled to receive new culverts next month. He asked about the salt supply and was informed that the Township had more than enough salt in storage for the winter.
“Also with roads, I would remind people I am seeing a lot of deer and so please be extra cautious and careful because there are a lot through State Route 303, State Route 82 and a lot on Bryant Road,” he said.
Burns told Miller that he was going to start exploring the possibility of purchasing a new snow truck for next winter.
With the cemetery receiving its new columbarium, Gano said that the Township was still expecting two benches from Portage Marble & Granite.
Timmons received confirmation from Gano that the Township had paid the entirety of its bill to Portage Marble & Granite for their work in installing the columbarium and its use of the crane, which cost $19,164.00.
He then presented the Board with a list of prices charged by neighboring townships for residents to use columbarium units.
Burns made a motion for the Township to charge $800 per unit to Township residents, $1000 per unit to Village residents, and $1,200 per unit to non-residents with an additional $100 charge for openings and closings from Monday through Friday and would charge $200 for openings and closings that occurred on the weekend.
Burns’ motion carried unanimously.
He added that in the event a Township or Village resident purchased a unit but moved out of Windham to another county or township, they would still be charged the same fee as they would if they still lived in the township or village.
He urged the Board to reinstate a policy prohibiting a resident from purchasing multiple units without having exact names to submit for each one. That policy would be enforced by Gano and cemetery sexton Jayme Neikirk.
Burns informed the Board that the Fire District had received 562 calls thus far in the calendar year and the Halloween and Turkey Raffles will still take place this fall.
He added that with Hiram Township recently forming its own fire district, there had been discussions between Hiram and Windham to combine resources.
“Say we need some piece of equipment that they have and they have an extra one, they’ll let us use their stuff, but if their ambulance breaks down and we have an extra one and we would have to let them borrow ours,” he said.
Burns acknowledged that there was a strong likelihood that Windham and Hiram’s fire districts would eventually become joint districts, but those discussions were still in the preliminary stage.
One potential hurdle that was discussed was the different pay scales between the Hiram Township Fire District and the Windham Fire District.
Timmons informed the Board that the cell tower leasing agreement with American Tower had reached a resolution, as the Board had received a contract proposal from American Tower and it had been approved by the Portage County Prosecutor’s Office. Timmons said that all she needed was for the contract to be notarized and Kendrick, who is a licensed notary, offered to do so.
She informed the Board that she had just received the results of a title search recently about the ownership of the Township Green, which had been in the Township’s possession since Dec. 17, 1828, something that the Board felt compelled to do to make sure that the green was owned by the Township. The title search confirmed that the Green was owned by the Township.
Burns said that the Windham Historical Society would host a dedication ceremony for three special community projects on Oct. 14 beginning at 5 p.m. on the Township Green.
The Board agreed to reconvene for its next meeting on Nov. 5 at Windham Township Hall at 6 p.m.
