City council is considering annexing 3 properties
Should three pieces of legislation pass the city council’s vote over the next several weeks, Bellefontaine’s city limits will be expanded by over one-half square mile, making room for scores of new houses and, possibly, a solar-generating facility on the north side of the city.
An ordinance that would annex the 200-acre Duff Quarry, north of U.S. Route 33 and west of the C.C.C. & St. Louis R.R, will be up for a third and final reading at the Tuesday, June 10, city council meeting.
Owners of two other properties — the Detrick Properties and LeVan’s Investments, LLC (see accompanying graphics) — have also petitioned the city asking that those parcels be annexed into the Bellefontaine city limits. Ordinances for the annexations of LeVan and Detrick properties are expected to be introduced before council soon and should all three annexations be approved, Bellefontaine would become over 390 acres larger in size.
As required by law, the council recently unanimously passed resolutions notifying the Logan County Commission that it can provide police, fire, EMS and other services to the Detrick and LeVan properties if and when those parcels are annexed. Both of these annexations would bring with them dozens of new housing units.
The proposed annexation of the Duff Quarry property is quite different, however, and has generated some pushback, as plans for the property are said to include the construction of a solar-generating facility. The pushback is coming from anti-solar activists, those who live near the quarry and some city council members, as members John Aler and Kyle Springs both voted against the annexation of the Duff property on the first two readings of the annexation ordinance.
Also, Council Member Jenna James, along with Aler and Springs, voted against the establishment of solar-power generating regulations at its most recent meeting, an ordinance that is now part of the city code, having passed its third and final vote by a slim 4-3 vote.
But the passage of the solar ordinance or its likely annexation into the city Tuesday does not mean that the Duff Quarry property owners will given leave to immediately start erecting solar panels.
Now that solar energy-generating facilities are recognized in the city code — they weren’t prior to the passage of the recent ordinance — the Planning Commission can now go to the work on the nuts-and bolts of the regulations for such sites. This includes establishing setbacks, borders, screening, landscaping, height/spacing, decommissioning requirements for these projects, before returning its recommendations to the council, which will have the final say in these matters.
Zoning is also a concern for all three properties. As of now, the city has nine different zoning districts under the city code: R-1 (One Family Residence District), R-2 (One-and-Two Family Residence District), R-3-C (Condominium Residence District.), R-3 Multi-Family Residence District, HMD (Hospital Medical District), B-1 (Neighborhood Business District), B-2 (Downtown Business District), B-3 (General Business District.), M-1 (Light Manufacturing District), and M-2 (General Manufacturing District). All of these district have their own regulations and requirements, descriptions of each which can be found the city’s website.
For now, should the Detrick and LeVan properties be annexed, its likely that will both be zoned R-1, but at the public hearing regarding its annexation request the LeVan Investment developers left the door open to ask for a Planned Unit Development (PUD) down the road. PUDs – like recycling centers, group residential facilities, trailer parks and motels – fall under special provisions in the zoning code.
According to the annexation ordinance that is before the city council Tuesday, if the Duff Quarry annexation is approved, it will also come into the city zoned as a R-1 District. Prior to installing solar panels on this property, the property’s zoning district would have to be changed (likely to M-2 District), again on the recommendation of the Planning Commission.
The Bellefontaine City Council will conduct the third and final vote on the Duff Quarry annexation at its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 10.
