Findlay planning commission approves Blanchard Valley Center campus improvements

The Findlay City Planning Commission on Oct. 9 approved a site plan review filed by the Blanchard Valley Center for campus-wide improvements at 1700 East Sandusky Street.

City planning staff recommended approval, saying the proposed work consists of multiple small additions and site refinements that remain inside the existing campus footprint and comply with zoning setbacks and height limits. The commission voted unanimously to approve the application, recorded as SP 10 20 25.

The proposal includes a 350-square-foot sunroom addition on Graff Hall, a vestibule and a generator at Agnes Hall, a canopy connector above a walkway between the school-age building and the Operations Building, a 5,590-square-foot addition on the Operations and Training Building to provide training space and offices, and a 917-square-foot addition to the Maintenance Building that will add a north-end bay. Planning staff noted none of the additions encroach on required setbacks and that the additions are under 20 feet in height, which complies with the site's R-1 large-lot residential district maximum.

Brett, an architect with RCM Architects representing the applicant, described the sunroom and vestibule work as intended to improve year-round comfort and circulation and said the Operations addition will include meeting A/V upgrades and roughly six or seven new offices. "We have a 350-square-foot sunroom that is going to be added to the south side of Graff Hall," Brett said. He also said the planned generator will be fed by underground natural gas, not diesel.

The applicant removed two items from the original submission after further study: a plan to add seven to nine parking spaces on the north side of Graff Hall and a proposed covered refueling canopy over replacement fuel tanks. The applicants said slope and floodplain constraints created a roughly 10 percent grade that made the new parking unsafe in winter, and that the canopy/tank option was cost-prohibitive; the existing tanks will be removed and the campus is studying off-campus refueling options.

Engineering staff told the commission they had no major concerns because the work is on private property, but reminded the applicant to obtain necessary water-tap and construction permits. Fire prevention staff asked only that the applicant secure the proper construction and remodeling permits. Planning staff also noted as part of the project that asphalt lots, the bus lane and other paved areas on the campus are being resealed and restriped under an ongoing maintenance permit issued earlier this year.

Commissioner Rob Martin made the motion to approve the staff recommendation; a second was recorded and the vote was unanimous with Martin, Tremblay, Enbady and Klinger voting aye.

The commission approved the site plan review; building permits and any required trade permits must be obtained before construction begins.