Notable agenda items for the Jan. 22 meeting:

• A new traffic light is being requested for the intersection of Carriage Lane and Allen Road. Carriage Lane is halfway between Northmoor Road and Willow Knolls Drive on Allen.
• A new strip mall is being proposed for the corner of Knoxville and Alta roads. “No specific site plans or users are specified at this time,” but they’re going to build a 152,400 ft.² multi-tenant building with a drive-thru. Part of land to be used will need to be annexed to the city. The neighbors don’t like it, of course. They are against the added lights, noise, garbage, drainage, and tree removal, and are concerned that this will lower their property values and quality of life.
• The owner of Tequila’s in Chillicothe, Javier Munoz, wants to open a Mexican restaurant on Pioneer Parkway in the old Cinco de Mayo’s building. The previous owner of the building did not pay his HRA taxes, and Munoz said he had no affiliation with that owner. This is coming before the council because he’s applying for a liquor license.
• You’ll be able to drink a glass of local wine from the Mackinaw Valley Winery while dining alfresco on the corner of State and Water if this liquor license is approved.
• City staff wants to explore possible incentive programs to improve hospitality (i.e., hotel accommodations) downtown. Possible programs include the usual suspects (enterprise zone status, TIF, special service assessment) plus a few new ideas (“historic tax credits for buildings older than 1936,” “Civic Center supported capital expenditures,” “voluntary HRA tax to be used for capital improvements”). This should make for an interesting discussion. What was somewhat amusing was reading the litany of consultants/specialists who have told us we need better hotel accommodations downtown (Johnson Consulting, HVS consultants, PACVB, and a Six Sigma Black Belt team!). It reminds me of how many consultants said the Sears block should have urban density and mixed use.
• The Zoning Board of Appeals and City Staff want to change the fee structure for variance requests. The board felt that the fees were too high for small, residential requests and was actually discouraging residents from applying for variances and building permits for things like decks, sheds, and fences. The staff did a survey of other communities and based on their findings, have come up with a new fee structure. The proposed fee structure would charge a lower fee for residential variances than non-residential. It would also charge a lower fee if the variance is applied for before construction begins. Sign variances would have to pay a higher fee because “Staff and Board are of the opinion that improper signage pose traffic safety and aesthetics problems.”
• Once again, the Zoning Commission and City Staff are at odds. The first item is about a request to add an access point for 901 W. Glen Ave. It’s in what’s called an “overlay district” that restricts the number of access points purposely in order to prevent too much traffic congestion. The building owners/tenants share access points with other property owners. The staff isn’t necessarily against putting in another access point, but the petitioner (Michael Landwirth) did not submit a complete application, thus staff could not adequately review the request. Nevertheless, the Zoning Commission approved it on a 5-1 vote (Klise voted no), even though they have no idea what use is being proposed for the subject property. So now the council will have to sort it out.
• The second split decision is the Missouri Ave. project requested by Floyd Rashid. He wants to have a parcel that contains a vacant house on the corner of Missouri and War Memorial rezoned from residential to neighborhood commercial, or “CN,” under the Land Development Code. The residents on Missouri are opposed, and the Zoning Commission voted 6-0 to deny the rezoning. But City staff points out that it’s consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, is adjacent to existing CN zoning to the east, and under the Land Development Code would be a small-scale development that would be compatible with the residential neighborhood. This should also be an interesting discussion.

Although not on the agenda, no doubt there will be some discussion under new business about what the process will be to replace outgoing City Manager Randy Oliver.