No veterinarians allowed? City looks to resolve zoning oversight

BUCYRUS - Veterinarians are one step closer to being allowed to open up shop in the general business district of Bucyrus.

Such businesses have technically been illegal — if only on paper — for an unknown length of time, according to Landyn Hill, the city's new zoning administrator.

"That’s obviously not correct and we wanted to address that," Hill said.

The inconsistency in the city's code came to Hill's attention a few weeks ago while he was researching the rezoning of nearly a dozen properties near The Golf Club of Bucyrus. The parcels in question then were along East Mansfield Street, from its intersection with Whetstone Street to its juncture with Penn Avenue.

Hill found the errors when Todd Strickland, a medical doctor who owns the Whetstone Plaza, wrote to ask that one of his tenants, who owns a veterinary clinic, be allowed to continue doing business in the area.

As written, the portion of the code in question reads: "only a use designated as permitted shall be allowed as a matter of right in any zoning district, and any use not so designated shall be prohibited."

The list of permitted uses does not include veterinarians.

Hill wants members of the city's platting committee to consider adding the following line to that portion of the code: "...veterinary offices, not including outside boarding of animals."

There were no objections during Thursday's public hearing.

"It made sense to clean it up and clarify the code so there’s no confusing going forward," Hill said. "I think it’s important to be proactive when you find things when you find it rather than push it through in a hurry."

The legislation will be considered 6 p.m. Thursday by the city's platting committee. If passed by the committee, the proposed legislation will be discussed by the full city council during the first meeting of 2019.

After the public hearing, the city's budget was briefly discussed in a special meeting of the city's finance committee. Council members found nothing awry in their review of the proposed budget. The budget will be discussed by the full city council 7 p.m. Dec. 18.

ztuggle@gannett.com

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Twitter: @zachtuggle