Former steak house could become a day care center

The 8,400-square-foot building is on a two-acre lot that’s in a C-3 commercial area. Child care centers are not permitted principal or conditional uses under the city’s zoning code, according to a staff report on the request.

The staff report also indicated the proposed day care center would accommodate 140 infants, toddlers, pre-school and school-age children and would have 15 employees. The proposed center would feature a fenced-in play area on the northeast corner of the property, 4435 Marie Drive.

Dennis Beatty, a local architect hired by Ridge’s company, said in a letter to the planning commission that Ridge purchased the former steak house several years ago and has approached a number of restaurant chains to occupy the building but has been unsuccessful.

Beatty said Ridge found a tenant who signed a 10-year lease, but after finding out that the current zoning does not allow day care centers, he has stopped the renovation work until the matter is resolved by the planning commission.

He also said Ridge has created a hardship because of the investment of money in the project and that a tenant is waiting to occupy the building.

Beatty said the city has approved similar use adjustment request for other day care centers in similar locations, such as Kinder Care, which operates in the nearby Kitty Hawk area and other zones in the city.

The commission is also expected consider a request to create Interim Development Control Overlay Districts that would allow the city to consider development applications on a case-by-case basis until the planning process is completed. This would eliminate the need to have a development moratorium placed to stop development during the planning process, according to a staff report.

A discussion is also planned for a proposal to prohibit any new pole-mounted signs and adopt a more restrictive ground-mounted monument-style sign.

The Middletown Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 8 in the Council Chambers on the lower level of the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.