Present at the most recent Planning Commission meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 10, were Scott Osterholm, Gary Zaremsky, Council liaison Gavin DeVore Leonard, Stephen Green, Susan Stiles, as well as Planning and Zoning Administrator Meg Leatherman. (Video still)
Village Planning Commission recommends repealing Gateway Overlay District
- Published: December 16, 2024
At the most recent Planning Commission meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 10, the group revisited — and ultimately recommended to repeal — an anomalous and oft-under-referenced section of the Yellow Springs zoning code: the Gateway Overlay District.
The Gateway Overlay District, created in 2013 when the Village overhauled the zoning code, aimed to establish regulations and limitations on what could be built within three distinct areas on the fringes of municipal boundaries.
Those areas included a stretch along U.S. 68, between Corry Street and the northern municipal limits; one on Dayton-Yellow Springs Road, from the western boundary to Kenneth Hamilton Way; and another on U.S. 68, between the southern boundary and Allen Street.
According to the code, the purpose of the Gateway Overlay District designation at each of those three locations was to “establish and protect the character of the Village at key entry points,” by limiting the kinds and designs of structures that individuals could build there.
For instance, under the Gateway Overlay District-oriented provisions of the zoning code, warehouses, self-storage facilities and “sexually-oriented” businesses — such as establishments that sell pornographic materials, adult entertainment venues and others — could not be sited in those regions.
Additionally, within the Gateway Overlay District, buildings and structures could not exceed two stories or 30 feet in height; driveways could not be within 100 feet of one another or 150 feet from an intersection; and a 20-foot-wide “greenbelt,” or non-permeable natural buffer, was required along all street frontages.
Map data provided by the Village of Yellow Springs
By a vote of 5–0, Planning Commission members unanimously voted on Tuesday to follow Planning and Zoning Administrator Meg Leatherman’s recommendation to repeal the Gateway Overlay District. In doing so, commissioners encouraged Village Council to follow suit, and officially amend the code by way of an ordinance.
According to Village Clerk Judy Kintner, Village Council members will weigh the recommendation at the group’s Jan. 6 meeting, then again with a public hearing, at a Jan. 21 meeting.
As Leatherman told Planning Commissioners, her recommendation to repeal that section of the code was not just in the interest of paving the way for more housing opportunities in those locations — such as the potential 50-unit low-income housing development near the YS High and McKinney Middle schools, that local governing bodies have discussed over the last year — but also in the interest of striking redundancy in local zoning laws.
The Gateway Overlay District was, as she said, “just an extra layer of zoning on top of zoning.”
“[Village staff] has been evaluating sites throughout the village to pursue more housing opportunities,” Leatherman told Commissioners before their decision. “Through that review, we’ve determined that the Gateway Overlay zones … would limit the number of potential dwelling units and other forms of developments, mainly from the height restrictions.”
She added: “The Village has a kind of policy or philosophy of trying to remove barriers to development in general. Repealing this follows that train of thought.”
Should Village Council choose to follow Planning Commission’s agreed-upon recommendation of eliminating the Gateway Overlay District designation from the zoning code, the land within those three areas would be subject to the typical provisions and standards of each of the particular zoning designations, such as residential, educational, industrial and business.
As an example, should the low-income housing development eventually be built on the Morgan Soccer Fields adjacent to the schools, such a structure would only be regulated by the standards of Residential-C, or high-density residential, which permits the construction of buildings up to 35 feet, or three stories. Should Council repeal this section of the code, a three-story office building could be built on the Village-owned Center for Business and Education land.
In describing her motivations for recommending the repealing of this section of the code, Leatherman noted that she and other Village staffers agreed that the Gateway Overlay District provisions were generally “sparse” and “never fully fleshed out.”
Earlier this week, the News reached out to Ted Donnell — a former Yellow Springs resident, Planning Commission member and to whom Leatherman credited the creation of the Gateway Overlay District — for comment.
“It was intended to be refined after the zoning code rewrite [in 2013] was completed,” Donnell said via email. “This process, unfortunately, never transpired. The intent was to establish the intended characteristics of development at the three entries of the village and reinforce that character through zoning restrictions. Each entry is unique and should be evaluated accordingly.”
Donnell continued: “One underlying theme [was] to promote density close to the downtown central business district — to promote walkable neighborhoods that connect to the downtown. Yellow Springs has a unique history in our region that promotes the greenbelt and reduces the probability of development outside our corporate limits.”
In a memo to Planning Commission members before Tuesday’s meeting, Leatherman wrote that her recommendation to amend the code would, essentially, address Donnell’s concerns from a decade ago, just from a different angle.
“These amendments are a means to implement the Comprehensive Land Use Plan’s policies that support diverse housing choices throughout the community,” Leatherman wrote. “These amendments will reduce the barriers to future housing projects, as well as to economic development.”
The next Village Planning Commission meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 14, in the John Bryan Community Center. While Village Council’s next meeting is Monday, Dec. 16, the group will not consider Planning Commission’s recommendation to repeal the Gateway Overlay District from the zoning code until next month, at the group’s Jan. 6 and Jan. 21 meetings.
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