Zoning issues come to fore again
BUCYRUS - When the old Ekleberry Poultry building burned down last November on the south side of Bucyrus, several people remarked how odd it must have been to have a chicken-processing plant right in the middle of a high-density residential neighborhood.
The city's law director recalled that the business, which closed up shop about 25 years ago, was indeed pretty smelly, as chicken plants tend to be. The building, at 823 S. Spring St., was housing used theater seating when it burst into flames on Nov. 30.
The Ekleberry place predated the city's zoning code, as do the vast majority of structures within Bucyrus city limits.
"Zoning in Bucyrus started in 1998, so we were actually late to the game when it comes to zoning. I think Upper Sandusky started in 1972, real early. Then in 2002 a committee was formed and they went through the zoning code, and adapted it much more for our community," John Rostash, the city's enforcement officer, said, adding that he had heard the Bucyrus zoning code was based on that of the city of Delaware.
"We haven't had much development, so I would say 90 percent of Bucyrus is grandfathered in," he said.
City Law Director Robert Ratliff remembers things a little differently.
"I left about 30 years ago and I don't recall any significant zoning, and that's why we have some of the weird things that we do, like an ice plant next to an electrical substation. There's some weird things out there," he said.
"(The code) was largely copied from zoning that existed in the city of Dublin at the time, I believe. My understanding was that it was adopted without a whole lot of study into what really works best for here. We're kind of feeling that out now."
Development today
Zoning has indeed become a hot topic in town again this year, with the recent announcement that a Tim Hortons coffee and bake shop, which may or may not have a Donatos pizza parlor attached, is going to be built at 503-511 S. Sandusky Ave., across from the Bucyrus City Building, with parking extending all the way west to South Poplar Street. Two recent public meetings on the project were well-attended, and a bit boisterous at times.
In addition, True Value Hardware, a few blocks south of there at 713 S. Sandusky Ave., wants to expand its business on adjacent property it already owns.
In both cases, the city will have to change some zoning in the area from residential to neighborhood business. Some members of Bucyrus City Council have asked whether the city should just rezone all of South Poplar Street to neighborhood business south to Oakwood Avenue, to match the zoning on South Sandusky. City officials say there are no plans to do that, but some in council have suggested having public meetings to discuss the overall issue of zoning in the city.
"The purpose of our zoning is to have logical development. There's no agenda behind the zoning that we have. If you want to build things, bring your plan to us, let's all look at it and see what's the best fit for our community. There's no guided agenda for a specific type of growth within a community," Rostash said.
Parking issues
But Ratliff is adamant that the city's zoning code presently requires new businesses to provide more parking than is either necessary or wise, and he would like to see that changed.
"We require these massive parking lots right in an area where we've got tons of stormwater problems. That's a detriment to building things and it adds to the cost. It's got problems all the way around. A lot of people will tell you about water in their basements," the law director said.
"It's something we want to develop a grand strategy for because it implicates not only zoning, but future growth, neighborhoods, annexation in some areas. I think there's a consensus there that we need to revisit the whole subject, and it's just kind of time to do that. But piecemeal, there's a lot of little things that we need to address right away."
There are 12 separate zoning districts within Bucyrus, which is a lot for a city of close to 12,000 people. While Bucyrus, unlike some municipalities, may not be utilizing zoning to force a development agenda on its residents, spot zoning does exist. The city's zoning map can be viewed on the city's website at www.cityofbucyrusoh.us/documents/pdfZoneMapSizeD_12-08-2014.pdf.
"You look at our map and yeah, there's a lot of different colors and stuff, but there's no one, good definition for what spot zoning is. There are a couple of places, they're very small, where it's SU, which is special use. That's where they meet a public need, and it's considered special use because there's a public benefit to it," Rostash said.
"Now if I live in a residential neighborhood and I want to zone my parcel general business so I can run my business out of it, that's spot zoning and that's definitely frowned upon."
Development patterns across the city, however, have changed in recent years. With the opening of the U.S. 30 limited-access highway, traffic along East Mansfield Street, the old U.S. 30, has dropped off, even with the presence of Walmart there. Instead, it's the north-south corridor through Bucyrus, along Ohio 4 — or Sandusky Avenue/Marion Road in town — that's becoming the focus now, especially with the pending addition of Pickwick Farms across from the Crossroads industrial park.
"The appeal of Sandusky Avenue is traffic. Traffic counts rule everything, so businesses want to be where the traffic flow is, especially the types of businesses like Tim Hortons, smaller restaurants. They're looking for that type of setting," Rostash said.
"It hasn't been identified as such, but it's obviously a growth area. That's probably the corridor where future growth is going to come," Ratliff said, although he added that he's surprised by all the empty commercial space on Marion Road south of Beal Avenue.
"With the apartments and stuff out that way there's even more people now. It's shocking to me that that's kind of died and went away," he said.
Whatever happens with zoning in the South Sandusky Avenue/South Poplar Street/Marion Road corridor, city officials promise the public will be involved, or at least can be.
"Ultimately, the public's got to dictate how they want their city to look," the law director said.
"They're as involved as they choose to be. By law we have to have public hearings," Rostash said.
"Your local government is inviting everybody to participate. It's the public's community, so everybody should be involved with it in one form or fashion. It's open for everybody, and it's recommended."
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