A May’s Lick business will not be permitted to continue operating in a new facility in its present form, Mason County Commissioners agreed Tuesday.
Commissioners held the second and final reading on an ordinance rejecting Findings of Fact from the Joint Planning Commission that would have approved a zoning change for Pleasant View Amish Furniture.
Pleasant View Amish Furniture owner Steve Wagler requested that his property along U.S. 68 be rezoned from agricultural to B2 commercial, the same designation as large retail stores in Mason County have.
The problem began when Wagler, whose business was grandfathered in because it had been established for 10 years or more, expanded his furniture-making business, officials said. The grandfather clause allowed the business to remain in place but prohibited its expansion.
Wagler was cited to district court for a violation of the zoning ordinance, according to Assistant County Attorney Robin Rice. After he was cited, he submitted an application to the JPC for a zoning exemption to expand his business to a feed-and-seed operation, allowed within the agricultural zone because it is agriculture-related, he said.
He later expanded his furniture business instead of adding the garden or farm supply store, officials said.
Despite the violations, the JPC agreed, in its Findings of Fact, to grant Wagler the exemption.
Maysville Planning and Zoning Administrator George Larger earlier suggested commissioners reject the findings, saying to allow the zoning change would set a precedent for future businesses to expand illegally.
If the findings are approved “it will only get worse,” he said.
Even if the findings are rejected, Wagler will be allowed to continue operating his businesses in the original footprint, Larger said.
Attorney Jeff Schumacher, representing Wagler, said rejecting the JPC findings means the county is dictating what Wagler can and cannot sell.
Schumacher said concerns about traffic issues at the site of the business “are made up,” and that no accidents have been reported in the location. He said even owners of property adjacent to the business have no objects.
Schumacher also took issue with Larger’s position that the JPC’s findings should be rejected. Schumacher said he served as an attorney for the JPC for 24 years and does not recall any time an administrator suggested the city or county go against the panel’s findings.
He asked commissioners to reconsider the ordinance.
Only Commissioner Phil Day spoke against the ordinance, citing the difficulty of operating a business in the current economic climate.
“It’s hard to make a living these days,” Day said.
Commissioner Chris O’Hearn said the court should act in the best interest of the county and voted, along with Commissioner Joe McKay and Judge-Executive Owen McNeill to approve the ordinance. Day voted against the measure.
Commissioners gave unanimous approval to an ordinance rejecting the JPC’s findings and the request for rezoning.
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