Planning commission approves One Church development plan and three variances after neighbors raise pond, drainage, noise and screening concerns

The Gahanna Planning Commission on May 14 approved a major development plan for property at 817 North Hamilton Road that will add an approximately 19,500-square-foot auditorium and expand on-site parking, and it granted three associated variances for parking location, electric vehicle infrastructure, and buffer/screening requirements.

Planning staff recommended approval of the development plan and all three variances, finding the revised proposal reduced previously proposed tree removal and parking area changes and added a six-foot privacy fence around most of the site. The commission voted to approve the development plan and each variance after extended public comment from nearby residents and a response from the applicant and the project civil engineer.

What was approved

The project as approved would increase the total on-site parking to 785 spaces; the zoning code requires a minimum of 280 spaces for the site. The applicant proposed 61 parking-lot trees and about 11,000 square feet of parking-lot landscaping, and the plan proposes a six-foot-high white vinyl privacy fence around nearly the entire property perimeter except along Hamilton Road. The applicant requested and received variances for three items: placing a new parking area in front of the main building (the proposed lot sits 27 feet from the front property line), not installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations now (the new code requires one charger per 25 parking spaces, which would equate to 16 chargers), and not planting 55 new buffer trees within 10 feet of the property…