One year ago, the city turned down similar legislation.
The city was supposed to hold a hearing today about the legislation.
Riverside city council discussed instead of rezoning the Kmart site to be industrial, that the city add indoor storage to the site’s current business use. City council also briefly discussed creating a new business zoning for storage use.
The issue was sent back to the planning commission and they will consider the zoning change on Monday, Sept. 21. The issue will come back to Riverside council at some point after that, most likely in October, said Katie Lewallen, clerk of council.
Councilman Mike Denning, at the city council work session on Aug. 13, said he thought that change could help other areas in town. Denning also stated that adding indoor storage to the business use could both give the city more tax dollars and deter other storage units from coming to Riverside.
“Like I said, I don’t want Riverside to be the storage capital of Ohio,” Denning said.
Councilwoman Sara Lommatzsch said she didn’t like the idea of the city giving up control of what kinds of businesses can go into a vacant spot.
City Manager Mark Carpenter said the way other cities zone indoor storage is mixed. For example, he said, indoor storage is classified as light industrial in Fairborn. Huber Heights classifies it as a business use.
At the special city council meeting in July, both city staff and residents who spoke were split on whether U-Haul would be a good fit for Woodman Drive.
The city’s economic development director, Gary Burkholder, said he thought something different could go in the space.
Riverside resident Ken Curp said he didn’t think that U-Haul could bring Riverside the right amount of income or property tax dollars. Curp said he lives near the Kmart and whatever goes into that area will affect his pocketbook and his neighbors.
“This city needs money. It’s needed money for a long time,” Curp said. “It’s landlocked, has no room to expand, has to rely mostly on redevelopment and the only way you do that is to take a look at how you optimize the return off the development activities that you’re going to do.”
Curp, in a letter written to city council, urged city council to consider other development opportunities for the Kmart site. In the letter, Curp said the city should consider mixed-use housing and business there. Curp said U-Haul is not aesthetically appropriate for a major entryway into the city.
“I see nothing wrong with U-Haul going in there,” said citizen Lori Luckner. “I drive the whole length of Woodman every day to go to work and to see the number of vacancies in our city is unbelievable.”
The Kmart building has been empty for three years.
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