Walker Lake Road rezoning hearing set; Ontario City Council approves fleet

ONTARIO — Ontario City Council will consider a rezoning request for property on Walker Lake Road during a public hearing at 7 p.m. Jan. 21.

The hearing will take place during council’s next regular meeting and will focus on a request to rezone the property from R-2 Medium Density Residential to a Planned Unit Development.

Developer plans 113-unit project

“We will hold that to the three readings, to give the citizens the public hearing as well as three public commentary periods, to make their voices heard,” Council President Eddie Gallo said. “It will be voted on in the beginning of March.”

Public hearings differ from standard public comment periods and allow residents to speak without response from council members.

Gallo said the request marks the second attempt to rezone the property after infrastructure concerns led council to reject the first proposal.

Under its current R-2 zoning, the property allows single-family homes and double units. Rezoning to a Planned Unit Development would allow a different design, including long, connected buildings similar to condominiums.

Gallo said the developer, Redwood USA LLC, hopes to build 113 units on the site.

“I don’t think this developer does bad projects,” Gallo said. “From what I’ve seen in other areas of Ohio, it’s pretty well done.”

Gallo said the unique aspect to this project is the developer has the piece on Walker Lake Road, but it also goes back into a separate parcel owned by the city of Mansfield.

“There have been questions on whether Mansfield would relinquish that through annexation and they do not want to do that,” he said. “There have also been questions about utilities and schools — with a lot of that still ongoing.”

Council approves vehicle and equipment purchases

Council approved several major purchases during its regular meeting Wednesday night, focusing on fleet replacement and winter readiness.

An ordinance passed to purchase two 2026 Dodge Durangos and the necessary up-fitting equipment for $155,848.58.

The city will purchase the vehicles through the Ohio Department of Administrative Services Cooperative Purchasing Program from Parr Public Safety Equipment.

Gallo said the purchases follow a long-standing police vehicle rotation plan tied to mileage benchmarks.

“We had planned to get four of them, we already got two,” Gallo said. “We rotate them. They have benchmarks on mileage, and when they hit those, we rotate new ones in.”

Gallo said council approved two vehicles for 2025 and scheduled the remaining two for 2026 as part of the replacement cycle.

Winter readiness remains a priority

Council also approved the purchase of a snow and ice package for a new truck at a cost of $115,974.18.

The city again used the state’s cooperative purchasing program to secure the equipment, which will support winter road maintenance operations.

Council also authorized the purchase of a 2026 Freightliner cab and chassis truck for $114,635.

“Those were items which were approved in the budget that we just passed,” Gallo said.