The Town of Brookville can now go forward with plans to renovate the old Zimmer building on 7th Street (405 E. 7th) for new police headquarters and town hall meetings following a favorable vote July 12 by the Franklin County Board of Zoning Appeals.

There had been a previous work stoppage on the property due to developers (Greg Martz) not having all the proper permits in place. Town board president Bridget Hayes notified the area plan commission that state and county permits had been received and the town was now looking for a conditional use change from general business to government. Construction is all interior work.

APC member Rob Seig, also county surveyor, raised a few points to consider. Would the entrances be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, would the parking allow for handicap spaces, and would fuel barrels onsite be protected from a possible vehicle collision and was spillage from those barrels considered?

Seig moved to pass approval of conditional use on to BZA with his related concerns. Motion carried.

During the BZA hearing, Hayes inquired whether there was another building in town she could view as an example to address the fuel barrel situation. From the audience, Seig said he could help with this.

There were minor housekeeping concerns with the application regarding fees and signatures. BZA member Robert Braun moved to accept the application provided ADA, parking and the barrels were properly addressed. Fellow member Terry Duffy noted the need for a revised development plan that outlines parking and other details as required for a public municipal building. Martz, via Zoom, said he could provide the revision in the next few weeks.

Braun updated his motion to have it contingent upon area plan executive director Kaitlin Sterwerf’s approval of the revised plan. Motion carried.

One agenda item for the APC meeting drew interest from a number of those attending. Brian Bauman, BAM Investments LLC, submitted a preliminary application for his proposed subdivision - named The Causeway – in Fairfield Township to be situated on a 3.85-acre parcel bordered by Fairfield Causeway Road to the north and Brookville Lake Regional Waste District to the east.

The developer has been in touch with county economic development folks, who emphasized a need for more housing in Franklin County. His goal is to construct 10 single-family ranch-style homes of up to 1,600 square feet each, three bedrooms, two baths, a two-car garage, with either crawl spaces or slabs and a starting price of $275,000.

The board had initial questions about setbacks, rights-of-way, accessibility, sewage, state environmental requirements and ownership of easements.

President Braun then asked if there were public comments. The first person to address the board was New Fairfield resident Kim Simonson, longtime educator and past president of FC school trustees. As secretary-treasurer of the town’s directors, he was puzzled as to why the (unincorporated) town had not received prior notification of the development. He acknowledged all property owners adjoining the parcel had been notified but that notices beyond that were inconsistent.

Simonson said he was speaking for residents who couldn’t attend; concerns involved setbacks, sewage capacity, drainage and the proposed homes being under the shadow of the town’s cell tower (county’s cell tower ordinance was discussed later in the meeting). 

Sterwerf reminded Simonson the hearing was just for preliminary approval. Seig advised that Bauman had provided all preliminary zoning requirements including sending certified notices to all adjoining landowners. Member Daryl Kramer noted the lake’ regional waste district has agreed to cover sewage for BAM if the project begins in the next 12 months.

Bauman spoke again, addressing said concerns. He said most water is set to drain to the causeway side, and he had sent notices to those property owners as the county dictated.

A couple other residents were concerned the homes would become rentals and affect land values. Braun remarked there’ no law against renting out homes and Bauman said he wouldn’t be able to control what a lot owner might do down the road. The latter added he planned to install fire hydrants at the front of the property to aid the community’s overall fire protection.

Simonson gave zoning a copy of the town’s plat map for reference. Seig moved to recommend approving the preliminary application and move the process toward a final development plan. Sterwerf gave a brief update on drainage that had occurred at that morning’ commissioner meeting. A motion was made to put subdivision hearings on hold until the county’ drainage board could see correct language in the zoning code. BAM’s preliminary hearing was not affected by that motion. Seig’ motion carried.

Proprietors of the Sister Haus were on hand to have a parcel in Oldenburg (3034 Pearl Street) rezoned from residential to local business. Their plan is to move an active food service business –currently conducted out of neighboring Pearl Street Pub –into the recently purchased apartment building. There’ no sit-down service; instead, the business caters on Mondays to carry-out customers who are mostly parking temporarily.

The board got satisfactory answers about emergency lanes (Oldenburg’s Eagle Fire is nearby), parking and customer capacity. Member Denny Moeller said Oldenburg Town Council had no objections.

Kramer moved to pass the rezone with a favorable recommendation to commissioners; this carried. He also moved to add three findings of fact; OTC was in favor, parking wasn’t negatively affected and it is a low-impact business. This carried as well.

There were a few more items on APC’s agenda.

Carried over from the previous month’ meeting were cell tower code revisions, discussion of address changes and addressing nuisance properties.

Commissioners had sent back language they wanted to add regarding cell towers, resulting in an addition to the zoning code on the matter. Braun wished to add specifications on a fall zone around the towers in case a tower did not collapse upon itself as designed to.

Board attorney Tammy Davis advised the commission to approve the requested changes first in order to establish a cell tower code; then the board could modify it later. Seig made a motion to that effect, which carried.

At issue with addresses were letters mailed from prior APC admin Glenn Bailey advising residents their addresses were being changed. This upset the residents in question.

Sterwerf reached out to Nicole Daily, Dearborn Co. plan director, who said when she has an address change to make, she simply notifies the landowner and makes the change. Seig said the county has an ordinance that covers these situations, originating from 911 mapping systems due to their vital nature in emergencies. The board agreed that if residents weren’t willing to change their address voluntarily, it should go before commissioners. Kramer moved for Sterwerf to continue assigning new addresses but put corrections on hold unless volunteered by a resident. This passed.

A county nuisance ordinance was recently signed by commissioners. Braun asked who would play “cop.”Full time building inspector Curt Cox said it would likely be him. There was a question of how to handle pending complaints received before the ordinance was signed. Davis said she and county attorney Grant Reeves could confer on these cases, then a joint executive session could be called if needed.

In one other BZA item, a petition for variance was granted to locate a pool on the property of Kevin Hunter (416 E. 6th St., Brookville).