BAZETTA — The Bazetta Zoning Commission voted 4-0 to deny a zone change request from residential to commercial-3 for a section of property owned by the Church at Warren.
More than 25 residents attended a required public hearing Wednesday on the zone change request for the property at 3179 Hoagland Blackstub Road. Commission Chairman D.J. Richards said the denial will be forwarded to the township trustees, who also will need to host a public hearing before making a decision on the matter.
Richards said the county planning commission recommended denial of the zone change and in a letter stated the zone change would not conform to Bazetta’s or Trumbull County’s comprehensive zoning and land use plans or “be in the best interest of the township.”
Zoning inspector Pete Pizzulo said the parcel for which the zone change was sought was once part of a larger parcel that has a maintenance building. He said having a commercial business in the building is a violation of the current zoning, and a notice was sent out.
Pastor David Natale of the Church at Warren said church officials were seeking the zone change for a business, Warzala Construction, which has had its offices in one of the smaller buildings on the property. He said it will be a hardship for the business owner if he has to leave the site and not use the building.
“There are three employees who meet there in the morning and they go to different job sites. They are not usually there during the day,” Natale said.
Natale said the church was not aware the building was not zoned commercial until they received the violation notice from the zoning department. The C-3 zoning would allow a construction / building trades business.
The church has used one of the buildings for storing lawn mowers, tractors, backhoes and other equipment.
Of the 25 people at the public hearing, the majority spoke against the zone change, stating they were concerned that a commercial-3 zoning would allow all types of businesses and change the residential neighborhood.
Resident George Barnes of Hoagland Blackstub Road submitted a letter objecting to the zone change indicating “the garage on the church’s property was never intended to be used for commercial purposes and is in violation of the current zoning of the land.”
Barnes stated the property was to be used for church purposes only.
Resident Anthony Caruso, also of Hoagland Blackstub Road, said “the zone change will be no benefit to the community or the people who built their homes there knowing it was zoned residential.”
He said he and other residents do not want commercial zoning there because of concerns about what business may be there in the future.
“Once it is zoned commercial, it can be changed to another business. The road is not wide enough to accommodate trucks that make deliveries,” he said.
Caruso said the property has been zoned commercial and residents bought their homes on both sides of the road because it was commercial.
Resident Patricia Elliott of Hoagland Blackstub Road said she has lived on the street for 40 years and church used the one building for storing mowers.
“We go by the zoning rules and so should everyone else. There are too many questions and missing pieces to the puzzle about this,” Hoagland Blackstub Road resident Patricia Elliott said.
Resident Cheryl Tennant, a former township trustee, said there was never an intention to make the property commercial and to do so creates “spot zoning, which creates a mess.”
