Board of Zoning Appeals - Regular Meeting

Yeah, yeah.

Less than a minute. Make sure your mics are on.

Got it.

OK, I have 7 o'clock. You want to stand and open this meeting with the pledge allegiance to the flag of our country. Can you be seated? Want to call the first case, Greg? Oh, no, never mind. Let me find my minutes. I'm in my sheet. Here it is. Approval of the minutes for the June 4th meeting. I'll approve the minutes as submitted. I'll second.

Roll call. Mr. Walker? Aye. Mr. Kangaroo? Aye. Mr. Ford? Aye. Mr. McAdams? Aye. Mr. Yang? Aye. Motion carried. Now I'll call the first case. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We have one case tonight. It is 5-26-A. The applicant is Edward Wright with Wright Designs, LLC, and the property owners are the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati. The applicant is requesting that the BZA grant approval for a conditional use to expand the current place of worship by allowing for a $3,290 five square foot interior addition in an exterior drop-off canopy to the existing principal structure within the r1 single family per article 6 section 622 of the union township zoning resolution the subject property which is zoned single family is located at 720 barge salt run road with the parcel number 413111G005. Some background information, the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati has submitted several applications with the first principal structure being built in 1992. Since then, there have been cases in 99, 09, 2016, 19, 2021, and the latest case being 2025. The primary access to the property is from Bardsop Run Road, which has been an ongoing topic discussion by the adjacent residents. The applicant is seeking to expand existing operations to better accommodate functions related to worship such as space for shoe removal and other improvements related to wheelchair accessibility and restrooms. These functions largely remain enclosed while the proposed canopy helps shield members from the elements. Staff find that the proposed items are in line with the places of worship requested within this expansion of the existing principal structure. There are no additional standards or requirements for this section 622.5. The BZA may provide additional safeguards and requirements in the process of considering and or approving the proposed conditional use application. A review of the proposal indicates that the proposed addition complies with section four four two the general standards for all conditional uses the action that is required tonight is in accordance with section four four three of the zoning resolution that the board of zoning appeals is to enter into a motion to approve as submitted approve with additional modifications or deny this conditional use application presented in the bza case 5-26-a Should the Board grant favorable consideration to this request, there are three recommended modifications. One, that the applicant shall comply with the requirements of all federal, state, local agencies having jurisdictions over the proposed development as part of the final development and permitting review process. Two, that the applicant shall provide lighting plans, landscaping plans, architectural drawings at the time of final permitting subject to administrative review and approval. And lastly, that all vehicle traffic related to the construction of the proposed combined addition and canopy structure shall remain restricted to the main site access off of Barstow Run Road, and that all vehicle approach patterns with this property remain in effect from the previous cases. With that, that concludes my report for BZA case number 5-26-A.

Anybody from the board have a question or grade? Craig. No. I'm good. Is there anybody here to speak in favor of this proposal? If so, stand up here. State your name. Yes. Edward Wright. Spell your last name. W-R-I-G-H-T. And your address.

4693 Mission Lane, Cincinnati, Ohio.

And your telephone number.

513-293-7000. 4444.

I want to raise your right hand. You solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give in this case is the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. Does that help you guys? I do. Okay, go ahead.

Well, that's a great image to have up on the screen. The purpose of this is to not increase the worship space, but to increase, to improve the flow of people from Barge Salt into the temple. So, You can see the parking on the right-hand side of the screen. There is a proposed driveway that's cutting across toward the circle. That's a new feature that improves the flow of cars coming in from Barge Salt and accessing the circle. Then there's a covered drop-off area. And really this is taking features that are already inside the temple and organizing them in a way that allows for a better entrance experience and a thoughtful preparation to get into the temple area. So you have the covered drop-off, you have the entry hall, bathrooms, and then you can remove your shoes and clean and go inside the temple in a protected way. Currently, these features are in different areas in the temple. They function, but they're not in a cohesive way. So the temple as a building sits about three and a half feet above the grade around it. And the temple members that founded this temple have now aged another 30 years, and we want to help them continue to come to the building. And there is a ramp. But if you see that kind of tan area, there's an element to the bottom of the image that's a ramp. It's not compliant with today's ADA rules. It's all exterior. So in inclement weather, it's just not a good way to go into the building. You can go down around behind and enter. But when you're coming to a religious place, worship experience, you want to just simply come in and get ready for that and not have to migrate around the building. So this is really kind of a streamlining of this process. So on the top side, where you see those darker elements and the little white circles, those are both the bathrooms, men and women's bathrooms. Adjacent to those spaces are shoe removal spaces and coat storage spaces. and the main entrance hallway in the center of that. There are still some steps, because we need to negotiate that 3 and 1 half foot difference. But there's a small, if you move your cursor down slightly, there's a little white rectangle, a lift. We've added a wheelchair lift to get people from the lower level to the upper level. And so people visiting can all come into the same shared experience, the common entry, and then go into the temple space, which is the orange, starting to peak in there. It's an orange color. To the bottom of the addition is a senior room for just on non-religious purposes, but just gathering. And that's that room. So that's the quick summary of the flow. And the purpose of this is just to kind of make a nice experience for people of all abilities to come and enjoy and be in the temple. Do you have any questions for me?

Is it going to be attached to the existing?

Correct. The building itself, as it exists, will only be altered at the door. The current exterior doors, they will be changed. But the whole construction will take place right now in basically the plaza area, which is a hard surface space.

Okay, it will be attached to the pre- They'll connect right to that front face. Okay. Yes. I don't have anything further to ask. Do I have anything further to ask?

Yeah, I got one question. So, I mean, I took note that your design basically took in Bartsall as the main egress point.

It addresses that because that's the primary entrance point.

Okay, I mean, that's how you designed this.

Right. That's the purpose of the addition of that access point is to make that, because if you can kind of see there's a kind of a car and a kind of grayer, lighter part of the parking area, that's obviously a pathway of primary travel, and it makes kind of a little bit of a bottleneck at that circular area. So we want to make that flow a little better.

Gotcha. Did you come up with that, or were you kind of... directed in that direction.

No, I just thought it would be a great idea, because every time I visit from Barnes Hall, it makes sense to me. I suggested it to the temple membership, and they're like, that's cool.

Makes sense.

Any other questions? Hearing none, is there anybody else to speak in favor of this proposal? Hearing none, is there anybody opposed to this proposal? If so, come on forward. If you have one of the papers, bring it up here. You've got one already? Okay. State your name. Cody Moore. Spell your last name.

M-O-O-R-E. And your address. 4868 Clady Road. And your phone number. 513-417-0113.

Raise your right hand. You solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give in this case is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? I do. Okay, go ahead.

Okay. My name is Cody Moore, and I live at 4868 Clydie Road. Respected board members, we come before you today asking you to review the zoning code, facts, and evidence presented and rule accordingly. We are here again because our neighbors the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati want to expand the size of the temple. We believe the majority of the neighboring residents are still concerned with allowing any further expansion to the facility until the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati can comply with the rules and start being the good neighbors that they claim to be. The main concern is still safety and leads directly to the gate status on Cloudy Road. The gate is still not locked and another section of the wall is falling into disrepair. Why is it the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati cannot follow the rules? We continue to see a pattern of we will comply with the rules, but then they do not. As for the Cloudy Road Gate, Cloudy Road is not safe for any increased traffic flow now or in the future. The increased traffic due to the Temple opening has put an increased load on the road and caused an unsafe condition. An expansion will only attract more patrons, especially in inclement weather. One of the main reasons that they are adding the covered patio and gathering areas is to allow more use in inclement weather. From early on, we had serious safety concerns due to the increased traffic load. There were numerous incidents, accidents, and even tour buses coming down a 14-foot wide road to visit the temple. Everyone except for the neighbors who live on this narrow, rural lane has turned a blind eye to the safety aspect of this road, including the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati. They constructed a new access road compliant with all the standards, and don't want to use it. The gate should be permanently locked down and used for first responders only, thus reducing the safety concerns. Real-time current facts. On October 15th, 2026, the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati had their Taste of India event. Prior to the event, they agreed with the Township Safety Services that the Bark Salt Road gate would be the only way into and out of the event and the Euclidie Road gate would remain closed. They also requested two off-duty police details to assist with the event. At 1.38 p.m., my neighbor said the gate was opened and parking attendants were telling her that they were opening the gate to help with traffic at the event. My neighbor explained to the attendants that the gate was supposed to be closed. The police department was called and the gate was closed. During this event, there were three near misses on the lane involving excess speed and utter disregard for the posted 25 mile an hour speed limit on Clady Road. On August 21st, 2026, the gate was observed open. On September 1st, 2026, the gate was observed open. On September 2nd, 2026, the gate was observed open. Where is the good neighbor and how do you ever expect to keep the gate closed with a lock and chain that you do not use? You spent good money building the wall and installing the gate to keep people out What is the issue with keeping it on a knock box? The issue is you don't live here, so you don't see all of the issues associated with the safety concerns that opening this gate places on neighbors. The Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati has always claimed that they want to be good neighbors, but their actions seem to be in conflict. The neighbors on Clattery would want to be good neighbors. We are currently being disadvantaged and put in unsafe conditions. Our request is simple. Please respect our neighborhood where we live every day. Friday Road is too narrow for a thoroughfare, and when used as such, provides an unsafe condition for all of us, especially our children. At this point, we respectively ask the board to deny the variance requested in case number 5-26-A. Thank you.

Any questions from the board?

Yes.

Let me see if I'm understanding this correctly. What you're asking the board to do is to become an enforcement arm of ensuring the safety of Clady Road.

We're citizens asking for your help, yes.

That's what you're asking us to do. Yes, sir. Okay, thank you.

Anybody else have any questions? Anybody else who speak in favor, I mean opposed to this? Come on up. State your name. Tim Campbell. And spell your last name. C-A-M-P-B-E-L-L. And your address. 4893 Platt. And your phone number. 513-543-0777. Okay, raise your right hand. You solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give in this case is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to help you out?

Yes.

Okay, go ahead.

So the last meeting we had was about the pipe restrictions on the buggy thing. I spoke then. I prepared a whole bunch of material, right? It's all about the gate, and we hear you that you really can't enforce what's happening with the gate. We get it, right? At the same time, anything they're doing over there to increase traffic flow is a problem until they agree to lock that gate. So I just heard Cody say they were through, but there were four. I was the fourth one. So I was working at my mom's. She's 90 years old and lives about a quarter mile up the road. So I'm back and forth, down platy, getting tools and stuff to work my mom's place. If you look at my driveway, It got a blind entrance coming to the right for me to turn right. It's blind. You can't see it. So you kind of got to creep up to look. It's a one-lane road. There's no yellow stripe. There's nothing in it. It's one lane. And right there, it's about eight feet wide. So I'm creeping out. In comes this red Mercedes doing 40, 45 miles an hour, just flying down a fatty road, heading to the temple because the gate's open. It's dangerous. Somebody's going to get hurt. Right? So I submitted a big, long thing explaining what I have researched and paid an attorney to research about the width of Platte Road and the fire restrictions, safety restrictions associated with making that an entrance to a facility that has meetings. I supplied the material. I don't know what's happened to it. I think we are going to have to take this to the township where there is enforcement. So this needs to go to the trustees. where they can do enforcement but somebody's going to get hurt and somebody's going to take you're gonna pay a lawyer one way or another you're either going to pay it because they're going to claim religious freedom all the stuff that they've done before or you're going to pay an attorney because somebody got hurt down there That was a great question, Brian, that you asked. Thank you. That's exactly right. What we need is support in any way you can find to stop this until they agree to close that gate. We have no issues with Bark Salt. And what you've seen over the years is they say they're going to do X. And they do y minus x, right? I mean, they don't do what they say they're going to do. So if they're going to do what they say they're going to do for a change, but again, you heard Cody. The gate's wide open all the time. That's all I got. Two things.

Is there anybody have a question? Anybody on the board? Hearing none, is there anybody else to speak against this proposal? Are you against it?

No, sir.

I didn't call for you yet then. I'm still going against.

Okay, that's fine.

State your name. Jerry Hunterlaw. And spell your last name. H-O-N-E-R-L-A-W.

And your address for eight nine four cloudy road and your telephone number five one three four eight four three zero zero two.

Raise your right hand. You saw me swear the testimony you're about to give in this case is the truth. The whole truth. Nothing but your truth. Yes, I do. Okay. Go ahead.

Uh, I'm in agreement pretty much with Mr. Campbell. Um, I've lived on cloudy road for 25 years. Um, recently I had moved to a different section of my property and my driveway, 700 feet long. Sometimes the people from the temple come down, drive down my driveway because they think it's to the temple, and they find out it's not, so they very nicely turn around in my front yard and go out. I have been in situations before the Borg salt gate was open where an ambulance had to be brought down to the temple, and I literally walked in front of the ambulance making the cars coming out of the temple to give that ambulance room to get in. They have total disrespect for what's going on and the people around it. And you can see the condition of the, well not up there now, but you can see the condition of the wall. My concern is they're gonna let that wall deteriorate and eventually it won't be there. And we're right back to where we were 15 years ago. I don't have any problem with the addition under the temple. I just think there has to be some kind of ruling that they cannot use Cloudy Road, and if they do, they should be able to be brought to court. That's all I have.

Any questions of the board?

No.

Is there anybody else to speak against this proposal? Did you fill out a paper, sir?

Yes, I did.

Okay, I didn't want to.

Randy? Yes, sir. State your name. Randy Morris, M-O-R-R-I-S. Okay. Your address? 4907 Cloudy Road. And your phone number? 513-256-9887.

Raise your right hand. You saw me swear the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to help you God?

I do. Go ahead. Um, my issue, um, obviously I, I do support everybody that's spoken so far. Um, cloudy road is not wide enough for traffic and, um, there is a, I have to say to the drivers are disrespectful. Um, but I think the biggest thing that would help us closing the gate, but would also be moving the mailbox. The mailbox, uh, is probably what GPS is picking up off of, but people are always coming down that road and sometimes the gate is closed. and they turn around and go back. Sometimes it's closed, and they pull in my driveway, and they drive down my driveway, just like Jerry's. And it just actually happened. Last holiday, we had family over, and I've got a lot of grandchildren running around. Here comes two cars right down my driveway. So there's clear... It's... ambiguous on how to get to the temple for some reason, and I don't really understand why. I think if somebody's been to a temple, they know how to get there, and I think it's somehow we just need to get that gate closed so everybody goes to the right gate, which is off Barge Salt Road.

Okay, any questions of the board?

I do. One question. Do you know how to, the GPS, do you know how to How that works?

I do not know that, but the mailbox is there. Maybe the official address would have something to do with the mailbox. If we move the mailbox, maybe that helps. Just a suggestion. Thank you.

Are you going to testify? Yes, sir. Okay.

It's okay.

I take it you're against.

I'm against.

Okay. State your name.

Brett Blaha.

Spell your last name.

B-L-A-H-A. And your address. 4850 Clatt Road.

And your phone number.

513-746-5421.

And raise your right hand. You solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God.

Yes, sir. Go ahead. So mine's going to be a lot more brief than everyone else's. Didn't really come prepared. It was coming to just kind of feel it out. But I just wanted to say, state it on the record and let my voice be heard. I agree with everything that everybody else said before me. My situation, because of my age, I feel like it's probably a little bit different than everyone else's. I've got three daughters of ages four, two, and five months, stay-at-home wife. And anecdotally, just wanted to comment on the traffic and the word disrespect is what brought this to mind. trying to walk my three young daughters. The reason we moved here is because it felt like a rural road. We moved from Anderson Township, and that's what we wanted instead of a wall-to-wall neighborhood. And the level of disrespect amongst the drivers when they go to the wrong gate is so bad that my daughters and my wife actually have to get in a road gutter. We don't even feel safe staying on the road. My daughters are on balance bikes at this point. They're not even riding real bikes. The only word for it really is disrespect. The drivers going to the temple, I should say, don't exactly move out of the way or slow down. They'll zip right down the middle of the road, 40, 50 miles an hour, to the point where, for what it's worth, I've actually said to my wife, if we ever move because we love our property, the only reason would be because of the feel of that road and the safety not being what I expected when I moved there three years ago. And I want my kids to be able to grow up somewhere where they're safe and able to play on a road like that. That's all I've got. I just want it to be heard.

Okay. Any questions from the board? No. Thank you. Anybody else to speak against? You want to speak for us, sir? Yes. Come on up. Expelled state your name and spell your last name.

My name is Jeff Forbes. F-O-R-B-E-S. And your address? 600 Vine Street, Suite 2500, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45202. And your phone number? 513-852-6000.

Okay, raise your right hand. You solemnly swear a testimony you're about to give. In this case, it's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you God? I do.

Go ahead. Thank you, sir. And thank you to the board. As you might have guessed, because I've been here before, I'm the attorney here on behalf of the Hindu Society of Greater Cincinnati. So I mention that in part because I'm not here to give testimony the way what you generally heard, but what I am here is to present the position of the Hindu Society and why we're here tonight and what our suggestion is to the board. I'll address a few of the comments that you've heard tonight. First of all, this is not a variance. You've heard somebody say, please deny this variance. It's not a variance. The temple that's there is a conditional use. It's already approved as a conditional use. What's being presented tonight is an expansion of the building to, as you've seen, to add a covered drop-off area some bathrooms, some cleaning areas, and a small room for seniors. And this is mostly and essentially an accessibility issue. This is to allow people to have better access in here. What is absolutely clear from the plans that were submitted, this is not expanding the worship space of the temple. It is not adding deity rooms. It's essentially an accessibility thing so people can get in the building easier. So the reason we're here is because it's already a conditional use, and any time you want to add something on to a conditional use, you have to come back through the conditional use process, which is spelled out very clearly in your zoning resolution and which your staff has addressed for you tonight. There are nine factors there. Even your staff has reviewed all of this and said, yeah, what's being proposed meets those nine factors for a conditional use. And that's really the only evidence that you've heard tonight with respect to those nine factors. It meets the nine factors. And if it meets the nine factors, the application should be approved. That's really all I was going to say, but I need to at least say this for the record. And I don't think you'll be surprised because we've been down this path before. The last time that the temple was here before this body, that was a variance request. And your staff at that time and your legal counsel at that time confirmed There are no conditions related to the use of the Clady Road gate. There is not one legal condition that remains about how that gate is supposed to be used. They explained to you at the last hearing any testimony related to Clady Road Gate doesn't have anything to do with that case and I'm here to propose any talk of the Clady Road Gate doesn't have anything to do with this case either. This is a conditional use does not change the essential character of that temple that's already there. It does not change the character of the neighborhood. When you look at those nine things, you'll see that they're satisfied. And because they're satisfied, we would ask you to do what this board is charged to do and approve this conditional use request.

Any questions of the board?

Is it okay with you if the neighbors still express their opinion?

Absolutely, 100%.

I'm only here to say... Because it doesn't really seem like you're too hip to it, but that's okay.

See, that's the problem. They can say anything they want. This board... is only permitted to consider evidence that's relevant to the question that's before it. And historically that's been an issue that staff and your legal counsel have had to address. I just want to address it ahead of time so that we can hopefully prevent any further issues related to that.

We do actually know what our job is and what our containments are. We also know that there are people whose voice isn't being heard, and when your voice isn't heard, you take any opportunity you can to get it heard. Absolutely. And my suggestion would be if anyone is really concerned, what would you suggest they do? You're a smart legal man. That's right.

They can go right to the trustees. They can go to the board that has any other governance or ability to regulate things. That's what local government is for. I think I probably mentioned to you before, that's all I do. I'm a local government attorney. In fact, most of my time is spent on the other side. I'm the legal counsel for local governments. That's the beauty, I think, of local government is that that is where folks go to address their immediate concerns. Don't go to Columbus. Don't go to Washington. Go to your local government. But what the local government has to do, at least at this point, is work within the code that exists. And the code that exists for this type of request pretty obviously shows that this should be approved as your staff has recommended.

I got to segue into this. Just out of curiosity, who from the temple could come up? I just, you know, being good neighbors, is everybody talking about it? Is what you're kind of alluding to, too? Yeah. why wouldn't say the neighbors have the opportunity to say go to say whenever they have their meeting a temple meeting and just hash it out there my question is is who has the keys to this gate that keeps opening and closing and and stuff and then within the confines of the temple itself when you guys have your your meeting Someone ought to put flyers in churches or something and say, hey, this is what's going on, or I'm just throwing this out. Is anybody doing that? It seems like it's the same thing over and over and over and over again, which it seemed to me that if someone sat in the same room with somebody, he could iron half this stuff out. That's just what I think.

Have you been involved since the Bark Salt entrance came about? i've been on the board a long time my involvement my involvement began back on the variance hearing uh for the shed i just wondered if there was a reason when the bark salt entrance went in was there a reason for the other entrance to remain that it wasn't completely closed off and taken out

I can't speak as I wasn't here either, but I would imagine with the emergency knockbox being locked.

It was for the emergency knockbox. Why can't they come in the bark salt? Can the fire trucks not come in bark salt? The response time. It seems like it'll only be seconds.

I don't want to argue old cases, but I mean, and I think we've mentioned this before, is that On a prior application for something some time ago, there was a condition imposed on that that they close the Cloudy Road gate. It was appealed, and the court said you can't do that.

That's true. That's true. And we're way in the weeds right now. Yeah, I agree. And you would probably agree that it's not necessarily fair that the board is put in this position, is it? because it's not exactly our purview.

I completely agree, because your purview, any Board of Zoning Appeals purview, is to hear variance things and to consider conditional use.

And yet all of us understand the desperation of the residents is this is the one chance they get to say something and it go on a record. So that's really all that's happening here. Yeah, that's completely fair. We know we can't fix it. They know we can't fix it. But it can get heard. And now there's more people talking about it. And hopefully the right people are going to hear about it. They probably don't hear about it from me, because I'm about done hearing about it. And maybe I should have been done the first time they came, and I apologize. It wasn't bothering my street.

I got one other question. I mean, it's like the GPS thing still gets, if you look at the address, the address calls for Bardsalt Road. Is there a mailbox that's on Clady?

I don't know, but I can't address that because I had a major issue at my house. Okay. So I had over 50 to 80 cars a day turning around in my driveway. Okay. I found out that an address on Bell's Lane was pinned on the wrong side of 32. So as soon as they made the right turn, everybody pulled in. I mean, I had them backed up at a standstill in my driveway. We couldn't even get out. Okay. Until we figured out that Google had pinned the address at the wrong side.

Well, that's what I'm saying. Communication with the neighbors now, it would seem to me that Move the mailbox. I mean, I don't know how it's getting delivered there anyway.

I can't speak to the mailbox.

I can't either, but I'm just saying that's an interesting scenario.

Well, I'm sorry. Yeah, we can't do that. Sorry about that.

I'm happy to address any other questions you might have. Otherwise, that's all I wanted to say tonight. Thank you very much.

Is there anyone else to speak either for or against? Have you filled out a paper?

You're still under oath.

Yeah. While we're talking on the record, I just was wondering, why don't you just shut the gate? Last time we were here, I went up to him afterwards very calmly. I said, hey, this seems to have gotten so far out of control beyond anything. It's like insanity at this point. And I said, can we just sit down in a room, And can we talk about this? Come to an agreement. Let us know when the gate's going to be open. What do you need? What is the reason the gate's open? Let us even understand why it's even open. Radio silence. So I just, on the record, would like to ask, maybe somebody can come up and tell us, why can't they just shut the gate?

Just while you're there, how successful have you guys been with talking with the trustees or another board? Have you been able to? Has that avenue been pursued well?

For 20 years. But my understanding is nobody has any authority to shut the gate. It has to be a goodwill effort. Okay. All right.

So good neighbors.

And that's all we ask is, like, Can you maybe just write us a letter and tell us why this is so important that this gate just has to remain open? They have a whole other gate. We don't understand it, it makes no sense, and we've never gotten an explanation. And that's all we're asking for. Thank you.

Thank you. Did you fill out a form? Yeah. Okay. State your name.

Vinod Sudhakar.

And spell your last name.

S-U-D-H-A-K-A-R. And your address. 5381 Commonwealth Avenue, Mason, Ohio.

And your phone number.

513-607-5760.

Raise your right hand. You solemnly swear the testimony you're about to give in this case is the truth and only the truth.

I do. Okay. So you asked a question. I just wanted to address that about GPS. There were a couple of occasions where actually the temple's address was not even on Union Township. Somebody had edited that. We have multiple times talked to Google. And I just checked it while I was there. It goes through . You put in just Hindu Temple of Greater Cincinnati without putting any address, it'll take you through . I cannot talk about the Clattie Road entrance, you know, so the gentleman that was taking care of several aspects of legal aspects of the temple recently passed away, so I've picked up some of the responsibilities. All I can tell you is, and I know one of my neighbors actually has a camera pointed at our gate, I have personally And they will have a recording of that, a black Ford truck walking up or driving up and closing the gate from the inside. I do that all the time because we direct people to come via . We do intend to be good neighbors. We have done everything that we can. Unfortunately, some of the information that you heard today is true but dated by a couple of decades. There's nothing we can do about that. We continue to work. to make sure, and what you see that we had Edward put together, that entrance from Barksall, just so it is easier. We do not know why, if anybody is going to the gladiator gate, we do not know why they're going there. Every part of that is directed to Barksall. Now, I just also wanted to let you know there was a question raised earlier about expansion of membership. Since this temple has been built, in the greater Cincinnati area, there are eight new temples that have come up. Essentially, our membership is on the decline because of that, only because it's a limited number of people and they go to different places. This entire addition is about accessibility. This temple was built, you know, coming up on 30 years now, ago. Several of the people that were there at the time still have a great degree of attachment to the temple. They want to come over. They're in their late 70s, early 80s, and we just want to have the accessibility. And I just want to explain that a little bit more. What does accessibility mean? Edward talked about the fact that the ramp going up the side of the temple is somewhat inadequate, especially we have a couple of children, actually. These are not old people that come up in these motorized wheelchairs that won't fit through there. So what we have to do is take them through the back entrance, and the back entrance is typically locked. on advice of the Union Township Police. We actually have only one entrance open during the day, the actual doors, only one of them open during the day for safety reasons on advice of the Union Township Police as well as the Department of Homeland Security. So the ramp is inadequate. On top of that, it's open. So in the winter, if somebody's trying to come up in the ramp, they're completely exposed to the elements. So what we've done here is to improve accessibility. Also, there's a staircase as you come up to the temple. That's the reason why we are providing that outdoor lift. It's all about accessibility. It's not about any kind of expansion.

I have a question. A question. So are these people that are opening the gate that are coming in, unbeknownst to you, do they have a key? No. Are they cutting the lock off?

We do not lock that gate. It's bolted down. Ah.

It's supposed to be locked, though, isn't it?

No. No, not for our understanding, it's not supposed to be locked.

So let me ask you this. Do you want the people that you don't know who they are to come in and out of the gate?

We don't know how they're coming in and out of the gate.

Well, I can tell you how. It's not locked.

Well, sir, I cannot comment on that because it is a legal matter. I do not represent the membership of the temple completely. There were questions raised about the GPS, so I thought I would answer that. Okay. I appreciate that.

Any other questions? No. Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Is there anybody else to speak in favor of or against? If you fell out of paper?

I have not yet.

You fell out of paper. Thank you. Thank you. State your name.

Elaine Morris.

And spell your last name.

M-O-R-R-I-S. And your address. 4907 Clady Road.

And your phone number.

5 1 3 3 7 5 5 0 2 7.

And I'll take it. You're against. Yes, sir. Raise your right hand. You saw me swear testimony. You're about to give us the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I do. Okay, go ahead.

Um, first of all, the, this gentleman here mentioned about the, the lock on the door in the back of the building that that door always be locked. What I suggest is that that lock then be transferred to the gate. so then that gate would always be locked then. That's one suggestion I have. And the other is at the Barge Salt entrance on the gate, it actually has a sign posted that I have here that Cloudy Road gate is to be used when there's snow. And so I'd like to...

When there's what? Snow. Snow. Okay.

So that's actually posted... So even with that, why is the gate open even for this purpose? The address is off Barge Salt, so why not use that permanently? Why is it allowed that it be used when there's snow? But it doesn't always happen or just happen when there's snow. It happens year round. So I just wanted to bring that point up.

Any questions of the board? No. Thank you, ma'am. All right. Is there anyone else to speak in favor or against? Hearing none, we'll close the testimony to the general public. And we'll have a discussion of the board.

I do believe that none of the testimony can be used. That's not a part of this. No. No, it's not. And I don't believe we can put any stipulation on the gate. No. No. in this case. No. I agree they need to go to the trustees. Can we go to the trustees? Yes. I think I am going to go to the trustees because this is the fourth or fifth time I've heard that since I've been on this board.

I think we should show up at the next trustee meeting or something, either one. I don't care how we get it to them. But if we get it publicly, that makes it even better. I think it would have more effect.

I agree. I don't know what the legalities are with it, why it has to be there, if they already have another entrance.

Yeah, yeah, in my dream world, Clady Road becomes a gated community, and there's a gate at the front of Clady, and only residents have access.

Yeah, so I was thinking that would be...

So the board overall, I'm getting the consensus, won't support a modification of a requirement of the gate being locked?

Well, I think what they have listed. We don't have the latitude.

I think that is what the lawyer reiterated.

I think what's listed right there, over on square one, I think that's adequate.

Well, yeah, because that almost goes without saying, you would think.

I think it's just a matter of someone needs to sit down for communication amongst the group.

Yeah.

Anyone like to make a motion? I don't know.

I think it needs to be addressed in a different manner. And I'm willing to address it to someone. I don't think anybody has an issue with the church. Not at all. Or the addition. That makes sense. They meet all the requirements. There is no reason to turn that down.

I'll make a motion. Our job is just to approve it.

Yep.

I mean, on record, I will go to bat for two. Sure. We've got to do something about it.

All right. You guys aren't going to support my motion. So I'm not going to make it. You guys are going to support mine. So I understand.

I'll make a motion that we recommend. I guess the favorable condition of this request with the following modifications. One, the applicant shall comply with the requirements of all federal, state, and local regulatory agencies having jurisdiction over the proposed development as part of the final development, permitting, and review process. The applicant shall provide lighting plans, landscape plans, and architectural drawings at the time of final permitting subject to administrative review and approval, and that all vehicular traffic related to the construction of the proposed Combined addition and canopy structure shall remain restricted to the main site access off of Barksalt Run Road. All vehicles approaching patterns with this property remain in effect from previous cases. And your motion is to approve it with those conditions? Approve it with those conditions. Yes.

Do we have a second?

I'll second it.

Roll call. Mr. McAdams. Aye. Mr. Ford. Aye. Mr. Walker. Aye. Mr. Cangrove. Nay. And Mr. Dane. Aye. Motion carried.

I would just like to say one last thing. And that is that the... The board will be going to the trustees to discuss this. It will either be in person or publicly, whichever one we think, or it could be both, whichever one we think will generate the best response. And that's all we can do. We wish we could do more. I'm sorry you're... voice doesn't feel heard, but we're going to try and do the best we can.

Is there anything else to come before the sport? I have no new business time. Have a recommendation.

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

I second roll call. Mr. Walker. Aye. Mr. Ford. Aye. Mr. McAdams. Aye. Mr. Canberra. Aye. Mr. Mr. Jay.

Aye. Hearing is finished. We're closed.