Jerome Township Trustees were busy approving zoning applications during Tuesday night’s meeting.
The board approved two applications, each in different phases of the zoning process.
The first application requested the rezoning of a 1.04 acre property at 8140 U.S. 42, which was most recently used as a real estate office.
William Pizzino, the applicant, requested rezoning the site from Local Retail (LR) District to Office/Research/Medical (ORM) District.
Zoning Inspector Eric Snowden said the owner of the property, Ronald G. Winn, would like to convert the real estate office to a veterinary clinic. He said doing so would also require the approval of a conditional use permit by the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA).
Snowden said, prior to the adoption of the amended Zoning Resolution in 2015, the property was zoned in several different district types that allowed for “clinics” or “veterinary clinics.” However, no definition was provided for those uses.
Rezoning of the property to ORM would not necessarily align with the Jerome Township Comprehensive Plan or the Union County Comprehensive Plan, Snowden said.
The township plan suggests agricultural or rural residential uses, while the county plans for eco-tourism or “small town residential land uses.”
Regardless, Snowden recommended approval of the rezoning, adding he felt it “better suits current development in the area.”
A staff report from the zoning commission noted“it is unlikely rural residential uses will ever be re-established,” given the current zoning districts.
“The plan calls for agricultural uses, but once you have a commercial district it’ll never go back to ‘ag’ because the land is just too valuable,” Snowden explained.
While he recommended approval of rezoning, the Logan-Union-Champaign (LUC) Regional Planning Commission offered another suggestion.
Instead, LUC recommended disapproval of the application and preferred a text amendment to the LR District that would allow for the veterinary office.
Snowden pushed for rezoning to an ORM District. He said “it seems like the best fit” because it will allow current or future owners additional permitted uses and will potentially reduce the impact to neighboring uses.
“In summary, we shouldn’t let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of ‘better,’” he said in support of rezoning rather than amending the current district.
Although not opposed to the rezoning, several residents shared concerns regarding the potential that creating new dog runs would be permitted if the decision was left to BZA.
“Otherwise, I agree this is probably the best use for the property,” resident Barry Adler said.
Trustee Megan Sloat recommended what Snowden called a “conditional zoning” – adding wording in the resolution that approval of rezoning is predicated on the fact there will be no dog runs.
The resolution, with the suggested stipulation, was approved 2-0, as Trustee Joe Craft was absent.
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Trustees also approved a final development plan for a property which will become a development called “The Villages at Glacier Pointe.”
The property, located on the north side of Mitchell-Dewitt Road east of U.S. 33, is approximately 50.23 acres. The site was previously used for agricultural purposes before rezoning to a Planned Development District was approved.
Snowden said the development will create 79 single units.
Gary Smith, of G2 Planning and Design, said there will be two different “products” – homes marketed to single families and low maintenance, “empty nester lots” designed for individuals at or near retirement age.
During his presentation, Smith said review of the final development plan is an opportunity for trustees to consider: “Are we bringing back to you what we promised we’d bring back?”
From the initial rezoning application to the proposed development plan, Smith said there were a few notable changes.
He said the lot sizes increased, the density decreased and the amount of open space increased. Smith said each of these are changes that should be desirable to a community.
The development also includes a second phase, Smith said, which should follow shortly after the first. He said the final engineering plans for phase two are currently being reviewed by the county and will likely be presented to the Jerome Township Trustees within four months.
Although limited access points are included in the current final development plan, Fire Chief Douglas Stewart said he is comfortable with the plans because phase two “will be right behind this with a second access point.”
Trustees unanimously approved the final development plan, 2-0.