Stow City Planning Commission recommends draft zoning chapters that consolidate districts, ease lot-size rules and add ADU standards

The Stow City Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of three draft zoning-code chapters that reorganize base districts, trim several lot-size requirements and add new use standards including rules for cannabis retailers, accessory dwelling units and temporary uses.

Commissioners voted, by roll call, to recommend approval of resolutions 25-127 (Chapter 2), 25-128 (Chapter 3) and 25-129 (Chapter 4) after staff presented major changes and answered questions. The votes were recorded as: Commissioner Missus Clancy — yes; Commissioner Mister Wagner — yes; Commissioner Missus Trepto — yes; Commissioner Mister Basic — yes. The motions were described in the meeting as recommendations of intent and direction for draft code language, not final adoption.

The draft Chapter 2 would consolidate current commercial districts from eight into three — C-1 (neighborhood commercial), C-2 (community commercial) and C-3 (regional commercial) — and reduce the industrial districts from two to a single I (industrial) district. The draft also would add a PI (public institutional) district intended for government-owned or institutional uses such as schools, fire stations, post offices and libraries, and create a “major planned development” category for larger, site-specific projects. Staff said the major planned-development threshold is not final and may be set at 4 or 5 acres.

Under the proposed Chapter 2 changes, minimum lot sizes in residential districts would be reduced: R-1 from 20,000 square feet to 15,000; R-2 from 16,000 to 10,000; and R-3 from 12,000 to 7,000. Staff said the consultant’s analysis showed roughly 60% of existing lots did not meet current minimums and that the proposed sizes would reduce nonconforming lots substantially — to about 20% of lots. Conservation districts would remain at a 5-acre minimum; the PI district proposal would set a 4-acre minimum.

Chapter 2 also proposes reducing minimum lot frontage for commercial and industrial parcels to 50 feet (currently 100–120 feet in many areas), a change staff said responds to frequent variance approvals and would facilitate infill development. Staff displayed a map of Route 8 and surrounding blocks showing several different commercial districts that would be consolidated under the new map.

Chapter 3 would eliminate several underused overlay districts (Darrow Road, Stokan, Gilbert Road and others) while keeping select overlays such as Seasons Road and the Monroe setback overlay. The draft adds a mixed-use overlay for walkable, neighborhood-oriented areas and a planned/minor planned development overlay intended to give applicants a process for site-specific modifications and additional uses when full rezoning is not appropriate. Staff said the planned/minor planned overlay would require a public hearing and approval by the planning commission and council, and that thresholds for project size (for example, 5 or 10 acres) are still under consideration.

Chapter 4 collects use standards and proposes conditional rules for certain commercial uses in the C-3 district. For cannabis dispensaries, staff proposed matching state separation rules and limiting the city to one permitted dispensary; the draft would require 500-foot buffers from schools, places of worship, libraries, playgrounds and parks and would respect the state’s one-mile separation requirement between dispensaries, as explained by staff. Tobacco retailers (including vape shops) would be limited by similar 500-foot buffers and a one-mile separation check. Car washes would remain conditional in C-3 and subject to separation rules; staff said the change would produce a similar number of operating car washes as today.

The draft also adds explicit accessory dwelling unit (ADU) standards. Staff said attached ADUs would be allowed if at least 220 square feet and no more than 25% of the principal dwelling’s floor area; detached ADUs would be limited to 1,000 square feet and a maximum height of 17 feet, and would be allowed only in interior side yards or rear yards with a 10-foot setback from property lines. Staff said the code will include language intended to prevent ADUs from converting into full rental apartment buildings.

Accessory structures would be governed by a new formula staff presented that ties allowed size to lot acreage; staff noted the draft would cap accessory building area at 4,000 square feet and gave an example calculation during the presentation. The draft also lists temporary uses (farm stands, special events), solar-energy collection regulations and specific standards for event venues; staff told the commission that event venues would be conditional and would be allowed only on properties of at least 1 acre to avoid typical subdivision lots.

Several meeting participants raised concerns in discussion and public comment. An unidentified resident said, “I don't feel any kind of event venue should be allowed in residential district,” and asked who would monitor capacity and on-site services; the resident also urged clearer definitions and stronger on-site parking and accessibility requirements. Another commenter urged against front-yard gardens in high-visibility corridors, saying they can appear untidy off-season.

Staff repeatedly emphasized that the three resolutions reflect draft language and “are still drafts of the code,” and that the resolutions express support for the intent and direction of the chapters while leaving room for minor wording and numeric adjustments before final adoption.

The commission passed motions to recommend approval of each draft chapter; staff said the action is a recommendation and not formal adoption of the code.