EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – With plans in the works for the sale of property for business expansion, the city planning commission met Wednesday to consider a zoning classification change.
Commission member Tom Beagle, who also serves as 1st Ward city councilman, has petitioned to change a parcel of land he owns that has frontage along Minnesota Street from B-2, Community Shopping Center, to B-1, Neighborhood Business.
At issue is a 1.6-acre lot with frontage along Minnesota Avenue, also bordering the parking lot of the former Thrifty City Plaza owned by Beagle.
A B-1 zoning classification is an area reserved for small local businesses with convenience-type goods such as drugstores, barber shops and beauty salons, with a minimum lot area for building set at 7,500 square feet.
Beagle told the commission a Wellsville resident plans to purchase the entire property to construct a new building, with the front portion on Pennsylvania Avenue to be used as a coffee shop.
The proposed buyer has other people looking at the rest of the proposed building for other businesses, possibly including a small indoor sports complex, Beagle said.
Beagle said the proposed buyer “has to get everything in line.”
Mayor Bobby Smith, who is also a commission member, questioned what would happen if the zoning is changed and plans for the new building fail to materialize.
Planning Director Bill Cowan said if a small business isn’t established on the property, another zoning change would be required for other types of businesses.
No one attended the public hearing to voice support or opposition for the zoning change. Cowan said notice of the hearing was sent to property owners surrounding the property.
The commission voted in favor of sending the zoning change request to City Council, which must schedule another public hearing and make the final decision.
The property in question is located in the city’s East End, where plans are in the works for a complete overhaul of infrastructure, lighting, curbs, sidewalks and streets.