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Council rezones 11 N. Franklin to mixed-use PUD after Helpline confirms buyer
Summary
Council voted to rezone 0.16 acres at 11 North Franklin Street from Community Commercial to MXPUD to allow combined residence and small-scale commercial uses; Helpline's executive director told council the property sale will keep local services in place.
Delaware City Council on Sept. 22 approved Ordinance 25-52 to rezone 11 North Franklin Street from Community Commercial (C-CEC) to a Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development (MXPUD), allowing both residential use on lower floors and limited commercial and studio uses tailored to the small lot.
Sandra Pereira, the city's planning director, explained the site is approximately 0.16 acres and has been used by Helpline of Delaware and Morrow Counties as an office. Pereira said the requested MXPUD would allow a future owner to live on the property and operate a small commercial art studio while enabling the city to limit uses that would be incompatible with the site's size.
Tonya Pace, executive director of Helpline, spoke during the public hearing in support of the rezoning. "I am confident that they will add to the Delaware City community," Pace said, adding Helpline staff are comfortable with the potential buyer and that Helpline is relocating to a different facility.
Planning staff and the planning commission recommended approval with six conditions included in the ordinance. Pereira noted that the existing conditions of the site would be adopted as the development plan; modest exterior changes (for example, demolition of an accessory garage or an addition) would require a modification or certificate of appropriateness under historic-district rules when applicable.
Council voted to waive the three-reading requirement and approved the ordinance in the same meeting. The ordinance carries conditions intended to preserve compatibility with surrounding residential mixed districts and to require appropriate review for future exterior alterations.
The rezoning allows residential occupancy on both upper and lower floors and a limited slate of commercial and office uses permitted in a residential-mixed zoning context. If a future commercial developer sought broader commercial use, Pereira said they would need to return with a new development plan.
Implementation tasks assigned to staff include notifying the buyer of historic-district constraints and ensuring any exterior work triggers the city's certificate-of-appropriateness review where required.
