Marysville City Council has approved a 12-month moratorium on all small box discount stores in the city. Officials said the city zoning code has no definition for stores like Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. The moratorium will allow the city to decide where they should locate in town.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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Marysville City Council is taking a pause to study how it would like to zone a variety of dollar stores.
At Monday night’s meeting, council imposed a 12-month moratorium on the acceptance and processing of applications for the issuance of any permits of certificates for what legislation termed “small box discount stores.” The vote was 4-1 with Council member Steven Wolfe voting against the moratorium.
The legislation defines small box discount stores as a retail store less than 15,000 square feet and that sells “a combination and variety of convenience shopping goods and consumer shopping goods” most of which are less than $10.
Zoning Administrator Zack Andrews cited specific examples of Family Dollar, Dollar General and Dollar Tree. He said that in Marysville and other communities there has been a “proliferation” of these stores regionally and nationally. He told council his problem isn’t with the stores but that there is currently no definition or zoning classification for them in the city zoning code or codified ordinances.
Andrews said the purpose of the moratorium would be “so that we have time to evaluate our zoning code, see where we could put those in specific districts, where it makes the most sense.”
He said one goal of the comprehensive plan is to “continue to evaluate and update our zoning code.”
City Law Director Tim Aslaner said the issue is “these small box discount stores are not defined in our code, we don’t have a specific category for these.”
Aslaner said the city’s planning and zoning department would review the matter and make a recommendation “with respect to how we are going to define it in our zoning code.”
He said the definition that ends up in the zoning code and the definition included in the moratorium legislation “will probably be identical or very similar.”
The law director said the planning and zoning department will also evaluate “where they should be located and how they should be zoned.”
Staff will then take a recommendation to the city’s Planning Commission like any other zoning amendment.
The planning commission can chose to move forward with the recommendation, change the recommendation or choose not to make any changes to the code. He said any change the planning commission makes would need to come to city council for approval.
Wolfe said he has concerns. He said there are 12 pizza places in Marysville and seven different coffee places in the Mill Valley area.
“Is there any way we can look at that and say this is something that needs to apply to these separate items or is small box discount stores,” Wolfe said.
Andrews said that would be “a separate item.” He said there are some communities that have regulations on “formula-based businesses” where a business uses the same formula to construct and operate in multiple markets.
“The legislation on that, and state law varies from state to state so I am not sure where that would fall in line in Ohio,” Andrews said. “We have not found a lot of communities in Ohio that have been successful in that, but it is something we can look into.”
Aslaner said that is something that could be discussed, “probably at a different time and place.”
He asked council to focus on the small box discount stores for the moratorium.
Council President Donald Boerger said the city could stop businesses they didn’t like other ways as well.
“We could improve design standards or we can remove different uses out of the code,” Boerger said.
He said he has long advocated for more control over property use.
“I do believe our code is way too vague and I do believe that this time around we have to put a lot more teeth and this is a prime example of it,” Boerger said.
He said he has worked with some council members to adjust the zoning map and told Wolfe, “I look forward to sitting down with you and educating you on why these choices need to be made now instead of waiting another 10 years when it is going to be too late when Marysville attracts every fast food company in America.”
Wolfe said he understands the pause but he doesn’t want to see a ban on the dollar businesses.
“I don’t want us to get into the business of saying ‘Oh, this business isn’t welcome here,’” Wolfe said.
The councilman said there is “a wide variety of people that live in Marysville” that shop at dollar-type stores, noting that he and family members are among them.
Wolfe said he does not want to see council overregulate businesses in the city.
“It just concerns me. I don’t think there is a line for us to say, ‘Hey, this is how many pizza places or coffee shops we need in Marysville’ if someone wants to come here and start a business,” Wolfe said. “If Dollar General thinks they can come here and make money with a third store, so be it.”
He added, “it makes sense to have some kind of guide to it but I get concerned where we kind of start going down the line of saying ‘We are at this limit here or here.’”
Aslaner assured Wolfe the intent is not to ban or limit the stores.
“The intent is to define this type of use clearly in our zoning code,” Aslaner said. “I don’t think there is any intent to prohibit this particular use.”
Council member Mark Reams stressed that it is “temporarily prohibiting them while we work out those details.”
“We are not saying, ‘No, there can’t ever be this kind of business.’ We just have to figure out where it goes, because we don’t have it defined,” Reams said.
Boerger said he would be in favor of a prohibition.
“I am fully OK with saying, ‘Enough is enough,” Boerger said.