Zoning dispute: Nursery asks for jury trial

The owner of Woodville Road Nursery is asking for a jury trial in a zoning dispute with Lake Township pending in Wood County Common Pleas Court.
Attorneys for James Mlynek filed a response Sept. 6 to the township’s complaint that seeks an injunction preventing Mlynek from using two parcels along Woodville Road unless he complies with zoning regulations.
Mlynek has been using the parcels, located across Woodville Road from his nursery business, to temporarily store piles of leaves before mulching them at his nursery. His business has been accepting leaves for years from area towns and he purchased the parcels in 2017, saying he needed extra space.
Residents of Bailey Road, which abuts the parcels, have complained about odors from the piles and noise from the site when Mlynek is using machinery.
In May 2018, the township trustees approved Mlynek’s application to rezone the parcels from R-2 residential to B-2 general commercial. The lawsuit contends his use of the parcels for the leaf piles isn’t a permitted use or covered by a conditional use set in the township zoning resolution.
The township also contends Mlynek hasn’t constructed a required buffer area or a landscaped mound with trees along the perimeter of the parcels contiguous to residences on Bailey Road.
“Defendant (Mlynek) has failed to establish either a 50 (foot) buffer yard or install an obscuring wall or landscaped mound in violation of the ….Lake Township Zoning Resolution” and in violation of the Ohio Revised Code,” the township complaint says.
The township is asking the court to order Mlynek to remove “leaf and vegetative matter and the equipment used in conjunction with the stored leaves/vegetation” from the parcels and for any future use of the parcels to comply with buffer requirements and the permitted and/or conditional uses for B-2 zoned property.
The township is represented by the Wood County prosecutor’s office in the case.
Mlynek’s response says the township has “selectively enforced its zoning resolution” and he argues he has “already placed a four-foot mound of earth on the property in anticipation for the trees to be planted as directed by the plaintiff (township).”
Mlynek also contends the township is raising claims that are under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The parcels have been permitted by the Ohio EPA to be used as a transfer facility for leaves and yard waste.
The EPA inspected the compost area at the nursery on June 13, according to Dina Pearce, a spokesperson for the agency, and found no compliance issues. The agency also visited the transfer stations and found no concerns.
In December 2017, the township solicitor, Philip Dombey, provided an opinion to the trustees that Mlynek must receive a zoning certificate from the township to operate the site as a transfer station for the leaf piles.
To receive a certificate, the owner must have a stormwater management plan approved by the Wood County engineer’s office and install a buffer around the perimeter of the parcels, Dombey’s opinion said.
Although the OEPA authorized the transfer station, that doesn’t preclude the township from deciding whether or not the owner has met stormwater and buffer requirements, Dombey said.
Mlynek’s response asks the court to dismiss the township’s complaint and require the township to specify the type of buffer needed to enable him to comply.