Audio of meeting included below
Residents pressed for wider buffers and stricter limits, but the Bellefontaine Board of Zoning Appeals on Tuesday evening, Feb. 17, approved zoning variances — with conditions — for a proposed housing development.
The conditional approval followed a continuation hearing that drew more than 20 residents and several speakers and cleared the way for the proposed development to move forward on the roughly 143-acre Detrick property annexed into the city’s southwest side last September.
As part of the approval, the board attached multiple conditions related to green space, perimeter buffering and future planning review, while voting separately on each requested variance.
The variances were requested by Bart Barok with Delaware, Ohio-based Sox Real Estate for property currently zoned R-1, one-family residential. The requests included a reduction in minimum lot size, reduced front, rear and side yard setbacks, and exceptions to side yard requirements contained in the city’s zoning code.
Dave Lyons, a County Road 11 resident and professional landscaper, was the first to speak during the testimony period, urging the board to require substantial, enforceable landscaping to preserve the area’s rural character if the project moves forward.
“Nobody wants to sit on their front porch and look across the road when you’re in the country and see nothing but rows of homes,” he said.
Lyons recommended minimum planting standards, including mature evergreen and hardwood trees, along with modest berms to increase the effectiveness of perimeter landscaping. He also said a wider buffer — at least 50 feet — could help mitigate wind-blown trash, dust and crop debris from adjacent farm fields.
Another C.R. 11 resident, Rachel Moreland, told the board she reviewed Bellefontaine’s zoning ordinances after the previous meeting and questioned whether the variance requests met the legal standard required for approval.
“Four out of five properties sounds like a new rule, rather than an exception,” Moreland said. “Granting variance after variance is eroding trust in a system that’s supposed to protect our community.”
She urged the board to ensure that any conditions tied to the variances are clearly defined in writing rather than relying on verbal assurances.
Barry Voss, a Township Road 216 resident, local contractor and Lake Township trustee, said variances should not be considered without concrete plans in place.
“If somebody comes to get a variance, they’re required to bring drawings … of what they’re desiring to do and how it’s going to affect the neighborhood,” Voss said. “We haven’t seen that.”
🎤Listen to audio of the Feb. 17 BZA meeting.
After public testimony closed, Barok addressed the board and responded to resident concerns. He said the requested reduction in lot depth was intended to create additional common green space and allow for a connected multipurpose trail system within the development.
Barok said current R-1 zoning does not require common green space or multipurpose trails and that the proposal was designed to exceed those minimum standards.
“What I was offering, which we would put in writing, is that we will have a 20 percent common area,” Barok said, adding that the majority of that space would be located along the perimeter of the development.
He also said reduced setbacks would not increase the number of homes if roadway layouts remain unchanged and that homeowner association rules would govern fencing, trash storage and property maintenance.
“There will be HOA standards, and the people that move here understand those standards,” Barok said.
The five-member board — Brian Osterfeld, Mike Vetorino, Jason Robson, Doug Elton and Joe Daniels — debated the scope of the variances and whether conditions should be attached, particularly regarding green space and perimeter buffering.
The board first approved a reduction in minimum lot size from 9,000 square feet to 7,800 square feet by a 4–1 vote, with Osterfeld voting no and Daniels, Vetorino, Robson and Elton voting in favor. That approval included conditions requiring at least 20 percent of the property — a minimum of 29 acres — be dedicated as common green space, with a minimum 40-foot buffer around the perimeter, trail connections to Southview Park, and a prohibition on tax abatements for homes within the development.
The no-tax-abatement provision was a condition sought by city officials before the land was annexed. Barok asked the zoning board to include it in the variances as a courtesy, affirming that the developers are not seeking tax abatements for the project.
A reduction in the minimum front yard setback from 25 feet to 20 feet passed by the same 4–1 margin, again with Osterfeld dissenting. The rear yard setback reduction, from 40 feet to 30 feet, also passed 4–1, with Osterfeld casting the lone no vote.
The board then approved a reduction in individual side yard setbacks to five feet by a 4–1 vote, though in that case Robson voted no while Osterfeld joined Daniels, Vetorino and Elton in support.
An exception to the city’s side yard modification requirements was approved unanimously. The final variance — reducing the required combined total side yard width from 18 feet to 10 feet — passed 4–1, with Osterfeld again dissenting.
Board members emphasized that approval of the variances does not constitute final approval of subdivision plans. Barok told the board that a preliminary plat, including the proposed number of lots and street configuration, is expected to be ready for review by the Bellefontaine Planning Commission in approximately 45 days.
The project must return to the City Planning Commission for detailed design and layout review, where landscaping, buffering and overall site plans will be evaluated further.
The board directed the developer to coordinate next steps with the city engineer’s office and adjourned after setting its next regular meeting for March 3.
