MANSFIELD, Ohio — MLB Ltd. intends to redevelop 26 acres of land located at 30 W. Longview Ave., where the Peabody Barnes building once stood.
Before this can happen, MLB must carry out various requirements, including petitioning the city to vacate the undeveloped streets and alleys that were platted on the property.
Mansfield City Council heard from an attorney representing MLB, Jill Tangeman of the Columbus law office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, during council’s Tuesday night meeting.
“We are in part asking for those roadways to be vacated so that the city’s interest in the property can be released and is no longer subject to the environmental covenant, and also in order to allow us, hopefully in the future, to redevelop the property,” Tangeman said.
Assistant Law Director Chris Brown said the land was originally platted to be a small subdivision.
“There were plats made for streets, homes, etc., but they were never developed. Because they were platted though, the city had right-of-way interest in them,” Brown said. “We’re now vacating that with the exception of utility rights.
“The city has no interest in these to-be-vacated right-of-way alleys and streets.”
He said he spoke with City Engineer Bob Bianchi, who “fully supports this vacation petition.”
MLB recently purchased the property from Tenneco.
Brown said the land is contaminated and now has an environmental covenant on it, which limits how it can be used.
Tangeman said MLB has not determined plans for redevelopment.
Council will hear the first reading of the legislation that would permit the vacation petition during its next meeting, Oct. 19.
In other news, council chose to table the Mansfield Home Value and Family Protection Act, an ordinance that would protect property owners from any type of business activity that has not been approved by the city.
This decision followed comments made by David Remy, director of Mansfield’s Human Resources Department.
He prefaced his comments by saying, “I’m coming here not as a city employee, but as a citizen of Mansfield.”
He believes the legislation to be “unnecessary and unneeded,” claiming the city’s existing zoning laws already work to protect homeowners in residential areas from developments like fracking and injection wells.
“I just believe it would be in the city’s best interest and the citizens’ best interest at this point in time to table this legislation,” he said. “Think it through further than what has been done to this point.”
Spon, who authored this legislation, disagreed with Remy, saying laws do not provide protection to homeowners in residentially zoned areas from injection wells.
He read an opinion from Ohio Supreme Court justice William O’Neill, who wrote, “The oil and gas industry has gotten its way, and local control of drilling location decisions has been unceremoniously taken away from the citizens of Ohio. Under this ruling, a drilling permit could be granted in the exquisite residential neighborhoods of Upper Arlington, Shaker Heights, or the village of Indian Hill.”
“This justice is saying that the present zoning laws do not provide any protection against an injection well being placed in residentially zoned areas,” Spon said.
Fifth Ward Councilman and Zoning Committee Chair Jason Lawrence moved to table the legislation — which had its first reading last month — and send it back to committee.
The zoning committee will further discuss the legislation and then may present it before council at the Oct. 19 meeting.
