At the June 13, 2017 meeting of the Bethel Township Trustees, the trustees tabled a request from Jamie Spencer to rezone 20.006 acres of a 45.0927 parcel located at 8390 Wildcat Road from A-2 General Agriculture to A-1 Domestic Agriculture. The rezoning would allow for an eventual lot split of the parcel to under 20 acres. Although the County Planning Commission, the Bethel Township Zoning Commission and the staff recommended the rezoning, the trustees tabled the decision.

The trustees had questions for the applicant who was not in attendance. Trustee Jerry Hirt expressed his concerns. “If the property is subdivided, it could be rezoned to allow for additional housing. The parcel has already been split several times. They never should have been approved in the first place.” In addition, Hirt pointed out that the drainage is poor on most of the property, which could lead to flooding issues.

The trustees tabled the request and will continue the public hearing on the request at 6:30 p.m. before the June 27, 2017 meeting of the trustees at which time it is hoped that the applicant can appear.

In addition, the trustees approved a payment to Scott Grigsby for $4,578.40 for costs incurred because of successfully completing the paramedic program though Sinclair Community College.

In public comments, Carl Bowman, acting as a representative for the old Church of the Brethren in West Charleston, asked the trustees to consider abandoning rights of way that the township has for alleys adjacent to the church. According to Bowman, “We are trying to sell the property. We have a buyer who is interested; however, we are running into some issues because of the alleys adjacent to the church. The alleys have been used by the church for several years and it no longer makes sense for the township to maintain these rights of ways.”

Hirt agreed; however, the trustees asked staff members to investigate the process required to abandon the rights of ways before making a final determination.

For the Fire Department, Township Administrator Andy Ehrhart reported that the Fire Department responded to 37 calls from May 20, 2017 through June 9, 2017. He said, “The increase in calls resulted from the tornado. We responded to a call at that time in which a car was blown off the roadway by the tornado. We also responded to many calls because of downed trees and wind damage. Luckily no one was hurt.”

The calls included 27 emergency medical calls including a rescue, three car accidents with injuries and a motor vehicle/pedestrian accident.

For Planning and Zoning, Planning and Zoning Director Marty Caskey reported that five zoning certifications were submitted and five issued. These included two accessory buildings at 2985-29 E US 40 and 8075 Palmer Road, canopies for Bethel School at 7490 SR 201, a new residence at 7066 Dayton-Brandt Road, and a garage at 6685 Studebaker Road.

In addition, there are two rezoning applications in process. The first to rezone 20.006 acres at 8390 Wildcat Road from A-2 General Agriculture to A-1 Domestic Agriculture was tabled pending further discussion. The second to rezone a parcel on Studebaker Road from A-2 General Agriculture to I-1 Light Industrial is in progress.

Caskey also announced that neither the Board of Zoning Appeals not the Zoning Commission will meet in June.

For Zoning Enforcement, Caskey reported that he responded to two complaints, one for high grass and the other for junk. Both complaints have been cleared.

The next meeting of the Bethel Township Board of Trustees is scheduled for June 27, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. in the township meeting room.

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