Zoning proposal the main topic of Ashtabula council meeting
The city received seven proposals for updating its master plan and zoning codes, City Manager Jim Timonere said.
The city could not put any moratoriums in place without a reason, and those proposals provide that reason, he said.
At the work session, Timonere asked council for a moratorium on permits for accessory structures over 200 square feet, inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment centers, auto and/or truck rentals, boarding and/or rooming houses, check cashing and payday lending businesses, convenience and dollar stores, e-cigarette, vape and tobacco stores; food trucks with permanent locations, junk and scrap yards, gas stations, thrift and second-hand stores and used and/or new motor vehicle sales locations.
'Just to be very clear, this does not effect anything that is currently operating within the city of Ashtabula,' Timonere said. 'It does not effect anything that's in the pipeline or has come to us for any type of permit. I don't believe we have any of these things that still need to be permitted right now. Everything that has been requested has been taken care of.
'So everything stays as it is, it's just a matter of putting a pause on these different things until we get our zoning done, and get our master plan done, so that we can see where this fits into the master plan for the city.'
He encouraged council to have at least two readings of the ordinance, if they choose to act on it.
Ward 3 council member RoLesia Holman asked Timonere for the rationale behind the request.
'We've taken a look at what already the city has,' he said. 'We have a lot of gas stations, we have a lot of used car lots, we have a lot of convenience stores, the dollars stores, so it's just these things that we really need to take a pause on for a little while, see how this all fits into the master plan, whether we can support more of these or not, and then decide what we do after we do that.'
Changes to the city's zoning would help determine where some of those items can be located so they don't put stress on the rest of the city, Timonere said.
City Solicitor Cecilia Cooper said the concern from her office is the possibility of a moratorium on treatment centers and boarding houses running afoul of the Fair Housing Act.
Timonere said he respects Cooper's opinion.
In the regular meeting, council discussed how to vote on the proposal.
Council President John Roskovics said council would likely vote on the proposal as 12 independent items at the May 19 regular council meeting.
Timonere said council has final say on the proposal.
'These are just my suggestions,' he said.
Timonere encouraged council to speak to city staff and himself about reasons for each of the proposed moratoriums.
'We didn't just pick these randomly out of the air, we're having issues with each one of these things,' he said. 'For instance, accessory structures over 200 square feet. Some of you have seen the additions that have gone on in town that are twice the size of the building that's been there.
'You can see them around town, the sheds that people are selling that are enormous. They go in back yards, the neighbors are complaining, they're near property lines, they're taking up too much back yard. This was an easy solution to that.'
Timonere said numerous people have applied for used car lots in the last year, and thrift stores have been popping up everywhere.
Council approved a pair of Community Reinvestment Area tax agreements at the meeting, a seven-year, 100% tax abatement for a residential property on Pennsylvania Avenue, and a 10-year 75% commercial abatement for Aiken Family Group LLC on Bridge Street.
Roskovics said the city of Columbus gives 15-year long tax abatements, and some suburbs on the east side of Cleveland give 10-year abatements.
'As the economy seems to be in decline, I'm concerned, because I do truly believe we have this housing shortage in the city,' he said.
Tariffs have the potential to make housing even harder to come by in the city, Roskovics said.
'In a matter of two days, I had three people express to me concerns they had with housing,' he said.
He said it is something council needs to pay attention to.
Timonere said the Ohio Revised Code allows all municipalities to approve tax abatements with a duration of up to 15 years.
He said tax abatements are sometimes the only way to make projects affordable.
'No city, school district, whatever, is getting less money because we put that [abatement] on,' Timonere said. 'The less money they're getting today, they are banking, I guess you'd say, the future payment that would come along.'
Holman said it seems the city often compares apples to oranges.
'Comparing the abatements in Columbus or Cleveland, whose population is what, at least 10 times plus, more than Ashtabula, doesn't seem like a fair comparison,' she said.
Taxes pay for police and fire services, schools, libraries, road maintenance and health services, she said.
Abatements transfer the burden onto other taxpayers, Holman said.
'I'd never advocate to disincentivize folks, I never have,' she said. 'And I will continue to support incentivizing, and I will continue to support incentivizing. However, not at 100% for seven years or to commercial at 75% for 10 years, because we have services, and everyone should pay their fair share for the services we provide for residents.'
Roskovics reiterated the concerns that were raised to him about the availability of housing in the area.
Timonere said an abatement does not cause other people's taxes to go up.
The two abatements on the agenda were adopted, with Holman casting the lone 'no' vote.
The city approved a three-year contract with Gianpiero and Cynthia Piras for the Walnut Beach concession stand.
Timonere said the city has experience with them, and they were one of two bidders for the contract.
Council signed off on purchasing two pieces of equipment for the Parks and Recreation Department, a tractor and a zero-turn mower.
Timonere said the purchases have been discussed in committee.
The city will be purchasing a new washing machine for turnout gear for the Ashtabula Fire Department.
Timonere said the previous washing machine was purchased as Army surplus, and lasted for more than 15 years.
Council approved a pair of ordinances for the Wine and Walleye festival. The first was to allow the Lift Bridge Community Association to host the festival, and the second was for fireworks at the event.
Holman said only one of a number of recommendations made in January by the city's ad hoc committee on racism as a public health crisis has been addressed.
On the proposal of an equity audit, which was recommended by the ad hoc committee at the January meeting, Cooper said the next step is for the city to conduct a request for proposals, and she does not know who would conduct that process.
Curbside leaf bag pickup will begin April 14.
Timonere said information on days for pickup can be found on the city's website, www.cityofashtabula.com.
'We'd very much appreciate you not bringing the bags down to public works,' he said.
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