Moorefield Twp. rezoning case withdrawn after neighbors object

A property owner seeking to rezone his land for a storage facility in Moorefield Twp. has withdrawn his application after neighbors expressed concerns about traffic safety.

Don Castle submitted a rezoning application to the Clark County Community Development office to change 3720 Moorefield Road from agricultural to business-use and allow for the building of a storage facility. The property sits on the corner of Ohio 4 and Moorefield Road.

It was initially approved by the Clark County Planning Commission, but was later rejected by Clark County Rural Zoning Commission. The request needed a final approval from Clark County commissioners.

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A hearing was expected to be held at today’s county commission meeting, but Castle decided to withdraw his application because of the backlash from neighbors.

More than 80 people signed a petition against the facility, citing worries about traffic and safety.

“It didn’t look favorable to me as far as getting the project off of the ground,” said Castle, a Moorefield Twp. resident. “I felt like the commissioners wouldn’t OK it, so I decided to pull it and fix some things.”

The business would have had a low impact on the neighborhood, he said, and brought tax revenue to the county.

“It was all positive,” Castle said.

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Moorefield Twp. Board of Trustees also submitted a letter requesting the county deny the rezoning.

“This intersection already has a history of serious and fatal accidents,” the letter reads.

However there’s nothing that can be done about the traffic, Castle said. No caution lights or warning signs have been erected by the Ohio Department of Transportation, he said.

“If the state feels like there’s a traffic issue there, they would’ve done something about it,” Castle said.

Tom Tavenner organized the online petition against the proposed business. The intersection has seen 17 crashes since 2011, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol data.

“The rezoning application got everybody to say ‘enough is enough,’” Tavenner said. “We have to do something about this intersection before we add more traffic there.”

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The petition was not a personal attack at Castle, Tavenner said.

“It had nothing to do with anything other than safety at the intersection,” he said. “It had nothing to do with Mr. Castle. It was about traffic and property damage.”

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