Hearing continued after dispute over required east access at 1590 Commerce Drive

Hearing officer Drew Riley continued an administrative hearing on a code violation at 1590 Commerce Drive after staff said records show the facility was approved with a secondary access drive that has been removed or left in disrepair.

Planning department staff told the board they located an approved site plan (PC 2000-048) showing the east access and said the city issued a May 7 notice to Northfield Center Development Incorporated with a May 22 compliance date and subsequent follow-up inspections. "We found an approved site plan from 2000...that did have that access drive on there as part of the approved site plan," planning staff said during the hearing. Staff also said they performed a May 28 inspection and that no corrective work had been completed.

A fire department official described multiple site visits beginning in December 2024 and said crews have documented seven inspections in the past year. The official explained the Ohio Fire Code allows officials to require additional access when a single access could be impaired and said the secondary access was needed so additional trucks could reach the east side if needed. "The access drives are needed so that we can get in there if something were to happen and prevent it jumping building to building," the official said.

The property representative disputed the characterization of the hazard and said he removed the east access after garbage trucks damaged it, that he added fire hydrants and a turnaround on the west side, and that a planning staff member told him the city would issue a permit to remove the drive after he mailed drawings. "I took that as saying...they would issue the permit," the property representative said. He also said he would prefer to replace the surface with geotextile fabric and stone rather than reinstall concrete if the city would accept that option.

Hearing officer Drew Riley said he did not have the authority to amend the original approval and asked staff to search planning and building records for any permit application or the original conditional site-approval language before making a determination. Riley directed staff to gather the planning commission case file and any emails and to return in roughly a week to 10 days. "I don't want to make a decision before I see the original language," he said. The hearing was adjourned and will be rescheduled after staff submits the requested documents.