Neighbors Surprised By Denison's Last Minute Proposal Change

The Planning Commission approved four of the six proposals before it Monday night. Denison had 3 proposals before the Commission including a change in the lighting of Burke Hall. The Burke Hall plan was changed sometime Monday afternoon and as a result, the public had no chance to review it before the meeting.

Application #08-41: Art Chonko, on behalf of Denison University, for the property located at 240 West Broadway (Burke Hall) modified the request at the last minute and asked for additional flood lighting on the walls of the white building. At this writing, the new plans are not available to the public.

John Thornborough, after a lengthy debate on whether or not he had "standing" and was finally granted standing, objected to the change of the plans after they had been advertised to the public. He also questioned whether the Commission was granting Denison the right to make final decision about the lighting since Chonko repeatedly said "maybe" we'll put lights here, etc.

The Commission finally unanimously approved Denison's application with conditions suggested by Commission member Jack Burris:

• A plan for when the lights would be on must be submitted to Village staff and approved.
• The Village staff will review the lighting at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after the lighting is in place to determine if there are any issues caused by the change in foliage with the seasons.
• The flood lights on the buildings at the three entrances will be separately switched so that they need not all be on at any given time.

Click here to view Denison's original (advertised) Burke Hall application.

Click here to view Denison's original (advertised) Burke Hall lighting plan.

Click here to view Denison's original (advertised) Burke Hall lighting fixtures.

Application #08-42: Denison's application for the property located at 100 Smith Lane, Curtis Hall was unanimously approved for an exterior elevator addition.

Click here to view Denison's Curtis Hall application.

Click here to view Denison's Curtis Hall elevator location plan.

Click here to view Denison's Curtis Hall elevator design.

Application #08-43: Denison's application for the property located at 334 East Broadway, College Town House for a handicap ramp replacement was approved unanimously. Burris suggested that Denison also replace the "plumbing pipe" hand rail on the front steps with railing that matches the porch rail and the new handicap rails. Mr. Chonko promised he would look into that possibility when the project goes out for bid.

Application #08-44: The application submitted by Ed and Donna Jenkins for their property located at 327 North Pearl Street was tabled because the Commission had questions and the applicants were not present at the meeting.

Application #08-46: The application submitted by John Noblick/Jerry McClain Construction, Inc., for the property owned by Jason and Dee Gay located at 317 North Granger Street was approved unanimously. The request was for architectural review and approval of a three-car detached garage.

Application #08-47: The application by Centenary United Methodist Church, located at 102 East Broadway (Methodist Church) was tabled. The request was for approval of two sandwich board signs. The Commission was inclined to approve only one sign, not two, but needed more details about the design and construction of the sign. The applicant agreed to have the application tabled and to return with the requested details.

Application #08-47: David and Rebecca Schnaidt presented an application for their property located at 139 West Elm Street. The request was for architectural review and approval of re-roofing, specifically removal of the slate tiles and replacement with premium dimensional asphaltic shingles. A small section of the slate roof had been removed and replaced when the Village Planner notified the Schnaidts that a permit was required. They continued with the project, however, and by the time of Monday's meeting had completed nearly half of the roof.

David Schnaidt introduced his project with an apology for beginning work without a permit. He stated he should have known better, but just never thought about needing a permit for a new roof.

During the discussion Planning Commission member Gina Reeves stated she was troubled by the applicant asking for "forgiveness instead of permission." Commission member Tom Mitchell declared that they should be using the roofing product that was designed to look like slate. Schnaidt replied that it was much too expensive and that several other houses in the historic district had used the roofing shingles he was using.

The Commission voted 4 to 1, with Mitchell voting against, to approve the application.

During the Citizens' Comments period at the end of the meeting, Joy Jung pointed out that she had reviewed Denison's Burke Hall lighting plan that afternoon and didn't feel the need to be sworn in during the discussion. Then, she discovered that the plan had been changed to add flood lights on three sections of the building. She felt this was improper.

John Thornborough asked the Commission to move the Citizens' Comments to the beginning of the meeting so that members of the public could comment on upcoming agenda items. Commission Chair, Tim Ryan, suggested that Citizens' Comments were not for comment on agenda items. Thornborough suggested that perhaps the Commission should be more welcoming of public input - that there are many citizens of Granville with knowledge and expertise and they could make the work of the Commission easier if encouraged to participate.

Thornborough also pointed out that Denison had changed its application at the last minute thereby denying the public the right to comment on it.