The Blue Ash City Council will continue the process of considering changes to the zoning code at their meeting on Thursday. In case it hasn’t come to your attention, the Council proposed edits to the code earlier this year and the Planning Commission has approved them with some amendments. The next step will be a public hearing and two readings at Council meetings before an eventual vote by Council.
What’s new?
There are several, relatively minor changes proposed changes. Perhaps the most significant is that the changes would allow one Auxiliary Dwelling Unit (ADU) on each owner-occupied residential property. An ADU can be part of the main house’s structure (think basement apartment) or detached (think the over-the-garage apartment that the Fonz lived in). The benefit of ADUs include allowing residents to make income from their property while providing needed housing for people who are in a season of life where they can’t yet or no longer wish to occupy an entire house.
The proposed changes also updates:
- definitions to make things more clear or to recognize new methods (Automotive Service Station or Filling becomes Automotive Fueling Station allowing for electric charging),
- moves duties previously assigned to the Board of Site Arrangement to the Planning Commission giving responsibility for reviewing new construction all to one body independent of project complexity,
- aligns the practice in Blue Ash with that of most other cities by removing Council from the zoning appeals process (After the Board of Zoning Appeals hears a case, appellants can currently appeal a decision to Council which then has to have a quasi-judicial hearing and who’s action can be appealed to judicial courts. The new process removes the extra step between BZA and courts.)
- removes cemeteries from the list of uses permitted in residential areas (these changes only affect future uses, existing cemeteries are “grandfathered”),
- allows fueling stations in the Blue Ash North, Blue Ash South, and Summit Park zoning districts and expands the number of pumps allowed at those stations to eight,
- eliminates the 3 acre minimum size for Planned Unit Developments,
- and more.
You can read the complete proposal on the City website.
What’s next?
On Thursday, there will be a formal public hearing on this legislation and Council will conduct a first reading of the ordinance. At our next meeting, residents will again have the opportunity to make comments on the proposal during the “comments from citizens” portion of the meeting before Council would be expected to have a second reading and vote.
Why am I telling you this?
Let’s face it: the City of Blue Ash operates very well. Most things that the Council considers are routine (approving contracts to purchase salt to put on the roads during the winter). With everything else citizens have going on in their lives, it’s easy to loose track of what is happening in city government. I believe zoning is one thing that has an outsized long-term impact on our community and I want to be sure everyone has an opportunity to weigh in before changes are made.