Planning commission approves rezoning for Main Street property to allow tobacco retail; goes to council after 30-day notice

MORAINE — The Moraine Planning Commission on Sept. 2 voted to approve rezoning application R-02-2025 to change a Main Street property from R-2 (single-family residential) to B-2 (general business), a change the applicant said is necessary to resume tobacco retail at the site. The commission’s approval will be followed by a 30-day public notice period and a City Council decision, commission staff said.

Nick, a city planning staff member, told commissioners the property (lot 2152, listed in the application as 3305 Main Street) has a long history of commercial use and was constructed in 1945, and that the building has been vacant for roughly seven to eight years. “The certificate of occupancy is currently mercantile,” Nick said, “however, due to our zoning code, whenever a business is vacant for two years or longer, the land use has to be brought up to code.”

The applicant, Omar Holmes, confirmed he was not aware of the two-year vacancy rule and said that is why he filed the rezoning application. “We didn’t know anything about that two years rule when if you close for two years, you have to go back through rezoning again, and that’s why we’re here today,” Omar Holmes said.

Commission staff and a longtime resident named Brent described previous uses of the building, including Pizza Express, a vape shop and, earlier, a barbershop. Brent, who said he grew up in Moraine, supplied the commission with historical context about local property uses. Nick said the last recorded certificate of occupancy for mercantile use dates to 2011.

Commissioners asked procedural and scope questions during discussion. A commission member clarified that the two-year vacancy rule, not the applicant’s intended use alone, triggered the need for rezoning. Nick confirmed that if a business had reoccupied the property within the two-year window, a zoning change would not have been required. Staff also noted that the zoning map contains an historical inaccuracy: parcel labels show an adjacent parcel (noted on the meeting map as 3351) incorrectly as R-2 though records show it is B-1.

Commissioner Howard announced that two members, Mr. Watts and Ms. Delf, were recused from the case and not participating in the hearing. The public hearing was opened, the oath administered to potential witnesses, and no additional public speakers addressed the commission during the meeting.

After discussion the commission moved to take item R-02-2025 off the table and then voted to approve the rezoning. A roll call in the transcript records “Michelle: Yes” and “Howard: Yes”; the clerk announced, “Motion passes.” The meeting record in the transcript does not capture full mover/second names or a complete roll-call tally.

Because the planning commission’s action is a recommendation, staff said the matter will be noticed for 30 days and then presented to the Moraine City Council, which may accept or overturn the commission’s recommendation by majority vote.

The commission closed the hearing and adjourned the meeting for Sept. 2, 2025.