The Administrative Hearing Board of the City of Stow held an evidentiary hearing on an alleged violation of Section 11.8203(e) — the city's dumpster-screening requirement for commercial districts — relating to a dumpster at 3667 Darrow Road, owned by Leopold Properties LLC.

Planning Director Zach told the board the city received a written complaint on June 20, 2025, inspected the property that day and issued a notice of violation on June 24 with a compliance date of July 9. After a reinspection the city issued a final notice on July 21 with a one-week compliance window to July 28, and, without resolution, sent the matter to the Administrative Hearing Board on September 11. Zach said follow-up photos show the dumpster remained unenclosed.

Dennis Leopold, owner of Leopold Properties LLC, testified that the property has an extended operating history and that prior site-plan approvals and a conditional zoning certificate dating to the mid-1980s anticipated a relocated scrap-tire bin and a 10-by-20-by-6 enclosure. Leopold said the site's configuration physically prevents placing the large tire-scrap receptacle inside a standard enclosure and that the dumpster was moved back out of clear view of Route 91. "I say I've compromised, we've moved it, it's not visible," Leopold told the board.

Leopold's attorney, Kevin (last name not specified), argued the city could not retroactively apply new zoning requirements to an existing use and cited case law. "You cannot apply retroactively zoning ordinances," Kevin said, citing Overholt v. Emrick, 2019 Ohio 1273, and arguing that conditions in a conditional certificate cannot impose requirements that the code did not authorize at the time the certificate issued. He also raised selective-enforcement and laches as defenses and questioned whether enclosure requirements would be enforced evenly across other unenclosed dumpsters in the city.

Zach acknowledged the city's code now includes requirements for dumpster enclosures in multifamily, commercial and industrial zones but said the conservation district where several properties lie was not covered and the city's enforcement is generally complaint-driven. "We are strictly reactive to these types of violations," Zach said, adding the city is updating the zoning code to address gaps.

The hearing record includes photographs and a copy of the property's conditional zoning/site-plan approval; the hearing officer identified exhibits A through G to include the complaint, notices, recent photos and the conditional-certificate documentation. The owner said he will submit additional photos for the record.

No final determination was reached at the hearing. The hearing officer said he had sufficient information to prepare a written decision, likely to be issued the following Monday and provided to counsel. "I think I have everything I need to write this, come up with a decision. Be on the lookout," the hearing officer said.

The case remains pending; the board record will include the admitted exhibits and the hearing officer's forthcoming written decision.