Plain City officials are looking at design plans for a possible duplex on the village’s west side.
The Board of Zoning Appeals looked at an application at the Tuesday evening BZA meeting for a single-story duplex located on the property at 539 Gray Street.
The lot is located directly behind the Jan and Tony’s building.
The area is currently zoned RS3, a typical single-family residential area so the duplex would need a conditional use permit since it would be considered a multi-tenant structure.
“The area around the proposed site is single-family so we would have to approve the conditional use for multi-family in that area,” said village zoning inspector, Zach Hounshell. “There are other multi-family structures in the vicinity so there’s nothing unusual about it.”
Plans have the duplex as a three bedroom, two-bathroom unit on both sides along with a two-car garage.
“With this type of project, this is the only meeting they need to attend before moving forward. If the conditional use is granted, they can proceed,” Hounshell said.
According to village code, a duplex must meet a series of requirements to be considered in this zoning district.
Among them are a minimum lot requirement of 8,000 square feet and minimum lot width of 50 feet as well as a minimum floor area of 800 square feet per unit.
In both cases, the planned duplex meets the requirements.
Plans show a 10,000 square foot lot area and a 50-foot lot width for the duplex. It also shows 1,140 square feet per unit.
Other requirements state that the utilities and meters for each unit be separate and that there is a minimum of four off-street parking spaces.
The plans meet the parking requirement and have listed “requirement will be met” for the utilities in the application form.
The application offers the intended use, noting the village’s continuing conversation over the need for affordable housing.
“There is a need for residential housing in the Village of Plain City,” according to the application. “The property is in an area with both commercial and residential uses.”
The application continues noting, the property is currently vacant.
“The construction of this proposed building would add value to the neighborhood,” according to the application.
The plan also states that the proposed structure is in a neighborhood, which contains neighborhood, commercial businesses, multi-family residential duplex units and single-family residential units.
No decision was made at the meeting but the conversation will be continue Tuesday and a decision will likely be made then.