WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, OHIO — The City Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday evening was filled with confusion and citizen involvement. The room had more than 40 visitors in attendance.
Prospective updated plans were presented to the board by JLB1 Properties regarding the six-acre property the business owns at the intersection of Farmington Lane and Greensview Lane in Quail Run. The prior plans were rejected based upon set-back rules and regulations of planning and zoning in the city. JLB1 Properties purchased this property in 2022 from B. & B. Knisley of Washington Court House for $184,500.
The plans were revised and updated, bringing them up to code and within city regulations and re-presented to the board for consideration. The attorney for the business presented his case to the board regarding their request to approve the revised plans, which are now up to code, regulations and planning standards.
The new plans call for three buildings, a total of 72 apartment units, a play area, a walking path, a future community pool, playground, and 144 parking spaces, including ADA compliant parking spaces. The plans now have the required set-back area of 80 feet from the dead end of Farmington Lane.
The city manager said that a traffic study was done for the Farmington Lane area and the engineer found no problems to be considered in this request.
Citizens were then allowed to speak regarding the plans. Della Kesterke, of 1311 Farmington Lane, who spoke on behalf of several people, told the board that they objected to the planned building of housing on that site. The site is zoned as R3 – multi-family housing. They objected to more traffic in their subdivision, for example.
The chairman of the commission spoke to attendees and stated what their specific job is, what is legal, and what can be considered. The city law director and city manager also spoke to citizens about what is being proposed to the board regarding this proposed site between Quail Run and Trotter’s Point.
The chairman stated that as a board, to approve plans, they “cannot dictate what you legally do on your property,” they can only interpret and apply the laws and regulations in place for the City of Washington Court House.
The citizens told the board that they did not have proper notification for this meeting to take place. The building official stated that the law does not require a letter to be sent to nearby residents because no zoning or variance was being requested. This meeting was only to consider updated proposed plans for the site in question. The only requirement was a legal notice to be published in a local newspaper pursuant to the law.
After much discussion by many individuals, it was recommended that this application to the planning commission be tabled, a new notice be published and a follow-up meeting be scheduled for Sept. 24, at 5:30 p.m. A motion was made to table this application and approved to be reconsidered on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Another application being considered was a zoning re-classification for 85 acres of land annexed into the city near the YMCA and Civic Drive, fronting on State Route 41 North, to PUD (planned unit development). The building official said that PUD zoning has more scrutiny than other zoning classifications, which means it is examined more carefully.
This property was purchased by JLB1 Properties from R&C Rivers Farms in 2024 for $3.9 million and zoned general farm. This application was approved.
A third item on the agenda was an application to rezone 726 Rawlings St., the former 2.19 acres of Carlton Manor, currently held by the Fayette County Land Bank properties. The building is awaiting demolition, and a grant for said demolition has been applied for by the Land Bank and Fayette County Commissioners. While the grant funding is pending, the current community facilities district zoning change is being requested to R2 – two-family residential. The land, currently one lot, must still come before the board to be split into six to eight lots, depending on the restrictions allowed by the city.
Two residents of the Rawling/Delaware street area asked questions regarding the future proposed lots. The building official said that the lot would need to be split to build housing there, and that after said split, the Land Bank would probably auction off those lots to anyone who wanted to buy and/or build housing there. The land would need a survey prior to any split and sale, according to the building official. This application was approved.
The next meeting will be a special meeting called for Sept. 24 at 5:30 in council chambers to reconsider the JLB1 Property proposed new plat for Farmington Lane.
