Minutes-9 /12/1990

The Tiffin City Council met in special session on Wednesday, September 12, 1990 in order to conduct a public hearing on rezoning request by John Schneider to change zoning at 210 Marengo Road from R-1 (single-family residential) to R-3 (multifamily residential). Mayor Potter called public hearing to order at 6:35 p.m. Council members present were Stoner, Slaymaker, Morgan and Brown. Also present were Attorney Greenleaf, Engineer Hart, John Schneider, Attorney David Brown, Tom Morgan, Kathy Kees, Alverta Williams and D.R. Miller. Schneider: There are foundation problems at the house. You can pull a brick right out of the foundation. (He showed the council brick and mortar and cracked it in two pieces.) I'm trying to remodel the house and put in a new foundation. Potter: I'll update the council. They all have a copy of the P&Z minutes from August 23. P&Z recommended denial. Schneider has three units and wants four. He's not asking to make the dimensions of the building bigger at this meeting. The question here is zoning. Schneider: I need to add another unit to justify the cost. I'll get an engineer to assess the structural damage. I'll tie the new building in with the old one, remodel the kitchens, insulate, redo the staircase, install fireproof sheetrock, remodel the bathrooms and install a laundry unit. (Schneider showed preliminary sketch to council.) P. Brown: Are you building another building? Schneider: No. The garage is '26' by '20' and I have an open porch on the south. I would put the fourth unit in the garage area. I have enough space for four units. Two parking spaces would be in the back and four in the front. From the edge of the garage to the southwest pin is 90 feet. I need to use 20 feet. I'll still have 70 feet to the southwest pin. I'll leave 30 feet in the front for grass along the south sidewalk. There's a 15 foot eastment on the west side. I'll put up a fence. The new part of the building would help to support the old part. The fourth unit would serve the debt on the mortgage. It's not economically feasible with three units. I want to upgrade the property. This will increase Tiffin's tax base. Potter: What about the eastment to Williams? Schneider: He has a 15 foot eastment. I have enough square footage. Attorney Brown: John is correct. There is a 15 foot eastment to the west. It is incorrect for Mr. Williams to say that John cannot include the easement in the calculations for the square footage of his lot. I'd refer this to the city attorney. Schneider: I was not prepared with a sketch at the Planning and Zoning meeting. I'm willing to work with Kees on a buffer zone with shrubs or fence for privacy. P. Brown: If it remains R-1 it will fall down. If it is rezoned to R-3 there'll be a nice apartment building. Will an apartment building decrease the value of neighboring property? Would someone rather live beside an R-1 building which is falling down or beside a new R-3 building?