Law director appeals zoning ruling; council debates Planning & Zoning authority

Steubenville Law Director Costa Mastros told the City Council on Aug. 19 that he filed an appeal of an administrative ruling to preserve the city's legal options after a private developer abandoned funding for a proposed project. "I respectfully disagree with it," Mastros said of the administrative decision and said the appeal was intended to "give the city options."

Council members spent more than a half-hour pressing on whether Planning and Zoning can effectively circumvent Council control by granting conditional use approvals in certain zoning districts. "If they keep doing that, they just basically go around us for any building or anything they want to rezone," Councilman Walker asked, saying residents expect elected officials to have final oversight. Councilman Albaugh said the city risks losing control if conditional use becomes a substitute for rezoning and said he has received multiple constituent calls about the issue.

Mastros told Council the matter is partly moot for the specific case because the original developer, Woda, "didn't get the funds to do anything with the [project] building" and pulled out, but he defended filing the appeal to maintain options if another developer pursues the site. He said whether rezoning would be required depends on the ordinance and the specific application; if an applicant has authority under the ordinance to seek conditional use for a particular district, Planning and Zoning may be able to grant that narrowly defined authority without a rezoning vote by Council.

Council members asked whether the city should revisit powers it previously delegated to Planning and Zoning, and whether changes made to ordinances in recent years (including revisions after 2016) altered the balance of authority. Mr. Hernon urged consideration of whether some delegated powers should be reclaimed by Council so that major land-use changes reflect elected oversight. Mastros said he is continuing to review the facts and law and has been in discussion with affected parties, including representatives of Beacon House, and that he will report back when his analysis is complete.

The discussion did not produce a formal vote on policy changes; Mastros said he would continue working through the legal and factual issues and that Planning and Zoning procedures and the city charter remain the governing processes for zoning changes.