Zoning Board of Appeals - Regular Meeting

Okay. The public hearing on ordinance 9344 is now open. A public hearing is a meeting that provides for public discussion regarding ordinances and other matters pending before city council. Interested parties may express their views and submit evidence supporting those views at this public hearing. The information shared will become part of the city's permanent record and may be used by the members of city council in deciding whether or not to adopt the ordinance. Ordinance number 9344, ordinance vacating a portion of Coleman Avenue and reserving a utility easement in the city of Bowling Green. There are four parts to our public hearings. The first is a staff report. The second is petitioner testimony. The third is public testimony. The fourth is discussion by members of city council. To start, we will receive a staff report on ordinance 9344 from planning director Heather Sailor.

Good evening. I gave you a handout at your seats and I have extras up here if anybody wants any. Um, give you an aerial view of the property as part of this handout. So, you can see the deadend portion of Coleman Avenue that's petitioned to be vacated which is just north of Birch Street. The planning department did receive a petition to vacate this unimproved street on December 18th of 2025. The petitioner is the adjoining property owners Steven and Michelle O'Neal that reside at 706 Birch Street. Um they also obtained signatures of approval from adjoining property owners to the north Chad uh Chevlin 29 Parkwood Drive and to the southeast Wayne and Gwen Allen, 707 Coleman Avenue. As far as existing conditions of this portion of Coleman Avenue, it's about 50 ft wide and 145.2 feet long. Present utilities include overhead electric, a private driveway, and a 6-in cast iron water line. This was circulated to staff for any comments, and based on their review, they did not have any comments besides wanting to maintain an easement for the existing utilities, which actually is common for our ordinances to include that uh perpetual and permanent easement. So, no concerns there. Uh from a planning department perspective, we did see, you know, there is an advantage that someday, maybe 50 years from now, it could be extended, but that's highly unlikely. Um considering there's homes already there and um the city has no plans to pave or um for any future development there, it's highly unlikely. Uh right now, there's a private driveway and parking there. uh planning commission reviewed this matter on January 7th of this year and they did recommend approval of the proposed vacation to city council. As part of your packet, we have a copy of the petition which includes some pictures of the property along with an aerial map um you know seeing the actual vacation request and I believe the petitioner is here if you have any further questions. And that's it unless you have any

questions for me. Anyone have questions? How long is the How long have we had this easement in unused condition? Um, I believe the subdivision was platted in early 1960. So, it's been unused since 1960. Correct. Great. Thank you. Any other questions? No. Thank you, Heather. Next, we will receive any testimony from the petitioners. My name is Stephen O'Neal. I'm the one that applied for the application. Wonderful, please. Sure.

Yeah. And could you give your name and address for the record, please?

Uh, my name is Steven O'Neal. I live at 706 Birch Street, Bowling Green, Ohio, 4342. Um, I appreciate you guys taking the time to listen, you know, for the this application process to take place. Um, I can say that uh we just bought the house recently um back in I think June of last year. And uh at the time we didn't realize exactly what the city owned. I don't think we didn't realize they actually owned a good portion of our driveway, including the portion that goes down into our garage. And uh that was one of the main reasons why we applied for the application. And uh we'd like to in the future possibly put up a shed on the property and with the city owning the property in between, even though it's our yard on the other side of the driveway, makes it very difficult to do anything if you can't, you know, um legally do that. with the city ordinances the way they're set up. So that's why we're asking for the um vacation of the roadway. So I appreciate you guys taking the time to listen about it.

Thank you. So you own the parcel on the other side of the drive as well. Yes. Yes. Both sides. Oh, wait a second. Is that Can you come show me which parcel that is? I think here's this and that's the drive. Okay. Yeah. So, we own these two parcels here and then when it says 706 and then this area right through here. So, the this parcel as well. Yep. And that little triangle there. So, your property is split. Yeah. Split in the middle by that. Yeah.

Got it. Thank you. Heather, if we vacate this, will that will that revert to his ownership? Yes. Or is it just Okay, great. Thank you. Any other questions? Thank you. Thanks. Are there any members of the public that would like to address the committee at this time? Jody, did we receive any correspondence? We did not. Okay, thank you. Any other comments for discussion?

I think it makes a lot of sense. Um, appreciate you going through the process. Did you move from outside of Bowling Green? Um, I've live. Okay. Um, no. No other comments or feedback from me. Okay. Thank you everyone for your participation. This concludes the public hearing on ordinance 9344.