City Council

May 18, 2023 The Fredericktown Village council met in a work session on May 18, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at the Fredericktown Municipal Building. PRESENT: Council Members, Hobson, Lanuzza, McKnight, and Shoemaker; Village Administrator Snell; Fiscal Officer Graves. Mayor Day and Council Member Brewer were not in attendance. The purpose of the work session was to discuss questions posed by council members about the prosed zoning ordinance. Below is the response from Wendy Moeller at Compass Point: “The following is just some initial thoughts on the issues that we will fully discuss at the meeting. These are things to think about, but not necessarily specific recommendations.” 1. We want residents to keep RVs indoors if at all possible and, for this reason, we would like to consider allowing bigger accessory buildings than 600 square feet and raising the height restriction as well. (Pages 44, 81, 82) • You can allow for any size of buildings you want. The current provisions allow for up to two buildings with no single building being larger than 600 square feet. The total aggregate of all buildings is scaled based on lot size so the smallest of lots get at least 600 square feet. Some communities do not cap any individual accessory building size with the note that it cannot have a bigger footprint than the principal building. If the village were to do that, then on large lots, some could have a 1,200 square foot accessory building if they also have a large house. • I will note that a 600 square foot building is meant to accommodate a standard 24x24-foot, two car garage. If someone wanted to have a garage for the largest of RVs (bus size), research shows that the need 14 feet of height clearance, at least 50 feet in length/depth, and a minimum of 10 feet in width, but I suggest 12 feet. A 12’ x 50’ accessory building is still 600 square feet. • In summary, 600 square feet is going to be large enough for RVs, even the biggest of them, but the village can also provide for larger individual buildings to allow flexibility in design. • Regarding increasing the height, I do not think you want to change how it is written. The current accessory building provisions state that any accessory building is subject to the principal building height (35 feet in residential districts) BUT in no case can it exceed the height of a principal building. That means that if a lot has a two-story house, the accessory building can be just as tall. However, if it is a ranch or patio home, then the maximum height will probably fall into the 16-20 feet range, depending on the roof style. That is sufficient to again, accommodate the largest of RVs. Can have RV in front of house for loading/unloading seasonally from April 1 to November 1 for one-week at a time, off-season side or rear yard only. No cap at individual accessory building at 600 square feet, no bigger than the footprint of the principal building (accessory building size still based on lot size). Maximum amount of accessory buildings is still two. Add ORC definition of RV. 2. Can we legally require people to give their name and address at a public meeting? (Page 111) • Whether you can legally mandate that is a question for your solicitor. I think a supplemental question is whether or not you require that in the zoning code or establish that as a meeting policy. If someone is at the public meeting representing someone, they would have to state who they are and who whey are representing. Most of this would be done in zoning appeals process. Double check with solicitor. 3. We’d like to clarify if just temporary carports are prohibited or whether we want to prohibit all carports. (Page 40) • As written, only temporary carports are prohibited. I think as currently written, and even in your current ordinance, if someone attached a permanent carport to their house, it would be simply just a part of the house and would be allowed. The accessory use chapter would only apply if someone wanted to do a permanent accessory carport in the rear yard. This is not common but occasionally a carport is attached to an accessory building. After discussion, it was decided to leave as is. 4. We’d like to hear your thoughts on driveway ordinances in general. DO we want to require hard surfaces, or are we okay with certain aggregate materials and such? (Page 82) • This is entirely a policy question for Council. Some communities require hard surfaces for all residential driveways but others allow hard surfaces as well as alternative materials or designs. There are also a number of communities that do not have any specific requirements for residential driveways, in particular. Add driveway installation should be complete within one year of occupancy. Leave everything else as is, resident can apply for variance if they want to install something different. 5. We’d like to review our language on mobile home parks and RVs and make certain they are consistent and possibly merge these two sections. • Mobile home parks and RVs are two entirely separate issues. We have maintained the mobile home park district to allow the existing one to continue without creating a nonconformity but no new mobile home parks are allowed. We have provisions in there that would prevent someone from replacing an existing mobile home with a very old mobile home. • Mobile homes and RVS are very much defined differently in the ORC as well. • If the concern is about people placing RVs on lots in the mobile home park, then I think we add clarification that RVs are not allowed in the mobile home park district. • If the concern is people living in RVs on residential lots, there is language that prevents living in RVs in the RV language, as written. After discussion, adding condition that any current RVs located in the mobile home park cannot be replaced by another RV. 6. Bruce’s suggested bullet-point: No permanent porta-johns in Village. Only for construction workers during construction or for special events. Like Independence Day or Tomato Show. That is an easy enough fix. I can expand the definition of temporary “construction structures” to include porta johns so that they are allow for construction. I can also add language to the temporary use regulations that they, along with other temporary structures (tents, etc.) may be allowed as part of any approved special event. Wendy will make the change to the definition of temporary “construction structures”, and language for use during approved special events. Mollie asked about a checklist/handout to hand to residents with information needed to fill out applications. Wendy can Andy help frame this up if needed. _____________________________________ President Pro-Tempore Rick Lanuzza ___________________________ Suzan Graves, Fiscal Officer