(PHOTO BY BRIANNA BALOGH / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
DEFINING THE FUTURE … Mayor Pamela Clark (left) and Village Administrator Blair Campbell examine guidelines, working to refine zoning definitions for Holiday City.
By: Brianna Balogh
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
The Holiday City Planning Commission met on July 17 to continue its work on developing zoning districts within the village.
Following a previous meeting where zoning inspector Todd Burkholder provided extensive information, this session focused on integrating Burkholder’s insights with existing zoning guidelines, often referred to as the ‘green book.’
Village Administrator Blair Campbell, Mayor Pamela Clark, and council member Shawn Clark attended the collaborative meeting.
The meeting, which began in good spirits at 5:35 p.m. despite some minor struggles with the coffee maker, saw Mayor Clark open by reviewing key topics from the prior discussion.
She noted that the village’s current guidelines were much more detailed than the information received from Burkholder.
The commission agreed that their first step would be to outline the guidelines and establish clear definitions. Mayor Clark suggested inviting another speaker, potentially from Montpelier, to offer a different perspective, considering Burkholder’s primary experience was with townships, while Montpelier’s situation might be more akin to a village.
Mayor Clark has already made contact with the Mayor of Montpelier and could further communicate questions or requests for a visit.
Another obstacle the commission must tackle is the formatting of the documents. Campbell expressed his preference for Burkholder’s format due to its simplicity.
Shawn Clark concurred that their existing guidelines contained significantly more detail. Mayor Clark added that much of the information in their current guidelines does not directly apply to their zoning situation.
Shawn Clark further noted that, based on the conversation with Burkholder, he estimated approximately 70% of the districts would likely fall under agricultural or residential classifications, with 20% falling into a commercial category. Both Mayor Clark and Campbell agreed, adding that agricultural zoning appeared to be the easiest to rezone if needed.
It was noted that industrial districts were not discussed in the previous meeting because the three townships lack significant industrial areas.
After consulting a Williams County township map, they confirmed that industrial development is mainly contained within the city limits of the discussed townships. In comparison, Holiday City, however, contains large industries.
Building on that discussion, the commission unanimously agreed they would need to establish agriculture as a district.
This prompted a terminology question regarding “zones” and “districts.” Were the terms interchangeable? Did they have different criteria? Shawn Clark consulted the ‘green book’ to look up the definitions of both.
After reviewing them, the commission reached a consensus that the terms were synonymous, and they would proceed using “district” as it appeared to be the most widely used term throughout.
Mayor Clark continued, clarifying the main districts they would primarily be working with. As she suggested, four core districts would be agricultural, residential, business, and industrial.
Shawn Clark confirmed these districts were present in the original guidelines. Within each main district, there would be subdistricts, as well as permitted and conditional uses.
The next step involved defining the difference between R1 and R2 residential districts. According to the ‘green book,’ R1 refers to a residential area containing a well and septic tank, while R2 designates areas with village-provided water and sewer services. Information received from Burkholder, however, classified R1 as light residential and R2 as heavy residential, such as a subdivision.
Campbell stated he preferred the original guideline’s distinction based on well/septic versus village water/sewer. Both Mayor Clark and Shawn Clark agreed that for their specific situation, these definitions would be more ideal.
The commission then discussed its subsequent steps. Two significant issues now lie ahead: redefining the map according to the recently discussed information and redefining the ‘green book.’
Redefining the ‘green book’ would involve incorporating preferred elements from Burkholder’s information into their existing document.
One specific example all members favored was the simple guidelines that clearly show each district and define what is permitted and conditional use within those districts. Another decision to address would be the extra districts that may or may not directly apply.
All members agreed that the next step should be to redefine the map. Mayor Clark assigned members “homework” to consider how to integrate Burkholder’s criteria into their current book and what items might need to be removed.
Before adjournment, the commission set their next several meeting dates: July 31, August 14, and August 21, which would also coincide with the village council meeting at 7:00 p.m..
All planning commission meetings will be held at 5:30 p.m. With a motion from Campbell and a swift second from Shawn Clark, the meeting adjourned at 6:28 p.m.