MILLBURY – Lake Township residents will have the opportunity to decide whether they want a self-storage unit in a residential area.
On March 19, township residents will get the opportunity to vote for or against the proposed rezoning of property on Bailey Road in Northwood from R-2 Residential to B-2 General Business District.
Only those Lake Township residents in the unincorporated areas will see this issue on the ballot. Millbury and Walbridge residents are not involved, Trustee Melanie Bowen-Greenwald explained.
In 2023, Ted Thomas purchased property on Bailey Road that was zoned R-2 Residential. The property is an abandoned junkyard and since being zoned for residential purposes in 1963, it had never been used for that purpose.
Thomas wanted to combine the property with one he owns on Woodville Road on which he operates a car wash.
The Lake Township Zoning Commission, and then the Lake Township Trustees on Sept. 19, voted unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
Bailey Road residents protested and circulated a petition to let the voters decide.
The rezoning was to become effective in 30 days unless trustees were presented with a petition, signed by no less than 8% of the total votes cast in the township in the 2022 gubernatorial election.
On Oct. 3, before the petition was submitted, new rules went into effect that increased the number of required signatures to 15%.
On Oct. 18, Lake Township resident Jean Garrison presented the petition to township trustees.
Trustees sent the petition to the board of elections, which determined it contained 282 valid signatures, more than 8% but less than 15% of the number required.
At the Dec. 21 board of elections meeting, members certified the referendum and voted unanimously to place it on the ballot.
On Dec. 29, Thomas filed a protest with the board, arguing the petition didn’t satisfy the 15% signature requirement.
Trustees also passed a resolution to protest the board’s acceptance of the petition.
The election board held a hearing on Jan. 9 at which attorneys for both Thomas and the petitioners argued their case. After deliberating for 10 minutes, the board affirmed its earlier decision.
Thomas filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court to compel the board of elections to remove the zoning referendum from the March 19 primary elections ballot.
The court ruled that the date of the township’s adoption of the proposed rezoning determined the effective date of the number of signatures required.
Bailey Road resident Joe Zemenski, who started the petition, said they’ve put up signs throughout the township and they are spreading the message by word of mouth.
He said he hasn’t thought about what they’ll do if the issue fails.
“We’re going to win,” said his wife, Nancy.
Supporters don’t think highway businesses should be in a residential subdivision, and that’s what the township is doing, Zemenski said.
Jennifer Stewart, who spoke up at Tuesday’s trustees meeting, lives just down the street from the property in question. She said she felt she was stabbed in the back when trustees decided to fight residents on the issue.
“We just wanted to make sure the process was right,” said Bowen-Greenwald. “They have a right to put it on the ballot.”
But the property owner has rights, too, she said.
“He bought the property,” she said. “I’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”
