FREDERICKTOWN — The Fredericktown Village Council is considering a new zoning category called Planned Neighborhood Development. Councilman and Planning Commission member Dave Glass said adopting PND would give the village council and the planning commission control over what kind of development is planned in certain areas of the village.
“It gives us a lot of control of what happens,” agreed Mayor Roger Reed, who is also on the planning commission. “I think it’s a very good thing.”
PND was introduced as an idea for the village after a developer came to the planning commission with plans for building apartments on Columbus Road near Ohio 13. The developer requested that the parcel of land be zoned R-3, which is the zoning that allows multifamily housing, condominiums and apartments.
Residents who live in that area were leery of R-3, according to Glass. Concerns about traffic and the density of the number of apartments were raised. Glass said PND would give council and the planning commission the authority to keep the same density as single-family housing. He said any new homes would have the same density of four or five dwellings per acre.
The proposed legislation, which will be presented to council for its first reading tonight, would require that any planned building be submitted to the planning commission. If the commission approves the plans, it would then be set before council for approval with the commission’s recommendation.
Once plans are approved by the commission they would not be able to changed without going through the whole process again with the changes to be approved or denied. Zoning Inspector Andy Fox said he also supports the proposal.
“It’s gonna be good for the community. It would help the community and protect them,” he said.
Glass pointed out that Mount Vernon already has a zoning category for planned development, which works well. Because PND is not yet a zoning category in Fredericktown, there is nothing yet before council. The proposed legislation will have three readings before council before it can be passed.