Our Council meeting had a large audience on Thursday evening, and the main topic of discussion was a proposed detoxification center on Graham Road. This was the second reading on this issue and there were many residents who attended or wrote comments in concerned about the location of the proposed center. Some were concerned about the fact that a school was next door, others were concerned about the proximity to several residential communities with a senior population. This came before Council without a full review by our Planning Commission so it has a few more things that Council needs to review than we normally do for planning items. We also received a legal opinion from our law department on the issue that needs to be taken into consideration prior to a decision by Council as well.
Based on those two factors, I have not made a decision yet on whether or not to approve this item. I believe there are still some questions to be answered and some concerns that need to be addressed prior to voting on this matter. From a procedural standpoint, August 12th was the 2nd reading of this legislation, the 3rd reading will be on September 9th. It will require 5 council votes to pass since planning commission did not provide a recommendation it is considered a denial by them. The Mayor also retains the right to veto any item passed by Council. I want to make sure Council does our proper due diligence and understands the implications of voting for or voting against this matter.
We also had a first reading on the request for us to re-zone the parcel recently purchased by EnviroScience from the City. EnviroScience is requesting that the lot be re-zoned to C-4, General Business from O-Conservation District. The location of this parcel has been zoned O-Conservation since 1992, with a portion being operated as non-recreational use for the operation of a park maintenance facility since 2001. In 2012 it was deemed that the park maintenance facility was no longer needed and EnviroScience leased the property with a purchase option and was granted a conditional zoning certificate as it was a similar use to the park maintenance facility. EnviroScience exercised their purchase option earlier this year. At that time, there was no discussion related to re-zoning, and it was asked of the Planning Director if rezoning was part of the purchase and he confirmed that no rezoning was requested at part of the purchase. EnviroScience is looking for this re-zoning to potentially make some modifications to their operations. Our current Planning Director did confirm that EnviroScience still has the ability to make modifications under their current conditional zoning certificate. This topic will have 2 additional readings and a public hearing prior to Council voting on it. The Public Hearing will take place prior to our committee meetings on September 23rd and the 3rd reading will take place at the Council meeting that evening.
Our 2021 Sidewalk program is currently out to bid and will be open later this month. This program will take affect later this fall and will be completed no later than May 2022. This new sidewalk program is working to address damaged and uneven sidewalks with funds that will be come from the lodging tax collected from stays at our local hotels. Our street department is also working through sidewalk repairs related to damage caused by street trees, these repairs are done in focused neighborhoods and this program will be completed in September.
Police Chief Film provided an update on some local crime that has occurred in the area. There has been an increase this summer of thefts of bicycles, this often occurs when bicycles are left out or garages have been left open. There has also been several thefts from vehicles and a few car thefts that have occurred. Chief Film stated that the thefts of vehicles that occurred were situations where car keys or key fobs were left in the vehicles, and most thefts occurred from unlocked vehicles. The recommendation was to ensure vehicles are locked, keys and key fobs to not be left in vehicles, bicycles put away when not in use, garages closed and secured and that garages and driveways should be lighted overnight. Along with this discussion, it was also shared that the Police Department is bringing back the neighborhood watch program, currently there is only one neighborhood signed up, but they are looking for more interested neighborhoods to sign up. For more information about this program and/or to sign up, please visit: https://stowohio.org/neighborhood-watch/
Council is now on our summer break and will not have a second meeting in August. Our next Council meeting will be on September 9, 2021 with Committees starting at 5:30 PM and Council to follow.