Perrysburg museum plans aided by cooperative spirit

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PERRYSBURG – The city has approved a zoning change for the Historic Spafford Homestead, the first step in
a long process toward converting the property into a functioning museum.
Still, new cooperation between developers and residents near the property might make negotiating the
remaining red tape in the coming months a little smoother. Rick Thielin, planning and zoning
administrator, told council members Tuesday that the project architect plans to schedule meetings with
area homeowners to gather their input during the early design stages of the museum. He said the firm
will ask the residents to choose one of three proposed designs, or to use pieces of all those designs
create a new one.
"Nothing’s moving forward until you all get those options to look at," Thielin said.
City council unanimously approved the zoning change for the property located at 27338 W. River Road –
from single-family residential to institutional – based on recommendations from the planning commission.
By approving the measure, council deemed the new zoning designation to be consistent with the Perrysburg
Area Historic Museum’s intention to create a museum facility on the property.
About 100 homes in the adjacent neighborhood back up to the .75-acre house.
Doug Fatica, 1521 Rivercrest Drive, said he and other residents were encouraged by discussions with the
historic museum group. He said the group promised to address the neighborhood’s concerns and to involve
residents early in the process. He told Judy Justus, historic museum president, that "this is the
beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"We expected somewhat more of an ‘adversarial’ interface with the (Perrysburg Area Historic Museum),
but we didn’t get that," he said. "And we appreciate it."
About seven public meetings remain before a zoning permit can be issued. The historic museum must still
obtain approval of: a preliminary site plan; a special approval request; a final site plan; a variance
request for bus parking; and approval from the Historic Landmarks Commission. Thielen said the city may
not see any paperwork for the museum until September.
Dawn Hoover, 1481 Rivercrest Drive, said she wanted to know more about the size of a proposed log cabin
and barn and would like to see a buffer between homes and the museum property.
Justus said her group planned to measure the area where a barn and log cabin would be erected this week
and that barrier landscaping would be included in plans for the site. She said the museum group had many
of the same questions as the area residents.
Also at the meeting, Mayor Nelson Evans said the inclusion of Perrysburg among the nation’s top 10 towns
for families in Family Circle Magazine reflected a cooperative climate in the city.
"It’s a combination of a lot of different things," he said.
Evans said the 2010 budget should be ready for review by council at the end of September.
In addition, council passed an ordinance authorizing the submission of revenue estimates beginning
January 2010 to the Wood County Board of Commissioners. The flat budget shows no change in expected
revenues for the 2009-2010 budget. According to the early estimates, the city
would begin 2010 with about $1.08 million.
In other action, council approved ordinances and heard reports as presented by committees:
¥ Finance: entering into a lease agreement with Craig Irwin for residential property at 221 W. Indiana
Ave. for one year at a monthly rent of $450; and applying for designation of the city as a
"Preserve America Community."
¥ Economic Development: approving a one-time amendment to a Community Reinvestment Area agreement with
RIMA, LLC – including a 75 percent tax abatement request for 10 years and a real investment of $942,200
– that would begin in 2010, since the owner has not been able to rent the facility and therefore has
been unable to generate jobs as a part of the original agreement.
¥ Service-Safety: assessing a special tax, totaling no more than $100,000 in two installments, to several
parcels bounding and abutting the city streets and public rights-of-way to pay part of the cost for
special treatment of shade trees – for control of blight and disease and for planting, trimming and
removing the trees in affected areas; authorizing an agreement with TCI for a new phone system at a cost
not to exceed $115,699; and authorizing the city to pursue a fire station construction grant through the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
¥ Planning and Zoning: amending a previous ordinance, defining PODS and Dumpster/Roll-offs as
transportation units used for temporary storage that is placed on a site for a limited period of time;
and establishing the duration for which such a container can be located at no more than 15 consecutive
days without a permit. No more than two portage units may be located on a specific site at one time.

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