Kettering Planning Commission recommends City Council approve broad zoning code text amendments

On Aug. 4, 2025, the Kettering Planning Commission voted 4–0 to recommend that Kettering City Council approve a package of zoning code text amendments (planning commission case PC‑25‑008) after a staff presentation and a continued public hearing.

The amendments, presented by City Planner Ryan Holmesy, revise multiple chapters of Chapter 11 of the City of Kettering zoning code. Staff framed the package as a citywide update to add more flexibility to the code, clarify standards, and align local requirements with state rules and contemporary practice.

City staff and the commission emphasized several recurring themes: provide an intermediate “neighborhood business” zoning district for lower‑intensity, non‑auto‑oriented retail and office uses; move some lighter industrial uses and microbreweries into commercial categories; add short‑term rental rules to the residential section; and consolidate and clarify buffering and screening requirements so they reside in the buffer‑yard chapter rather than scattered through use standards. The changes also include technical adjustments to better match Ohio requirements for day‑care outdoor play area, modify driveway and parking standards for small lots, and revise demolition and sign‑removal rules so nonconforming signs must be removed when principal structures are demolished.

Key proposed changes described by staff

- Districts and permitted uses: creation of a neighborhood business district to sit between office and business districts; split “restaurant” into drive‑through/drive‑in and sit‑down categories; move microbreweries from industrial to commercial use lists; add certain light industrial uses as…