Apr 17, 2002 By Steve Ferris 4 min read

CENTERVILLE – Borough council opened and then immediately continued a Tuesday hearing for Malden area residents who petitioned council to change the zoning of their neighborhood from commercial back to residential. Residents argued that they did not receive notification that council was considering rezoning the area to allow commercial development before the panel approved the change in May 2000. Council approved an ordinance that rezoned most property within 300 feet of routes 40 and 88 to commercial in hopes of attracting businesses.

The residents said they didn’t realize the zoning had been changed until last year when they learned that an auto dealer was interested in building a dealership in Malden.

Two Malden residents, Anthony Lazzaro and Dennis Illar, who are neighbors on Howard Avenue, hired an attorney and obtained a preliminary injunction from Common Pleas Court in Washington County against Norman Solomon, who has applied for a building permit from the borough to build the dealership.

The injunction, issued Friday by Judge Debbie O’Dell Seneca, bars Solomon from developing the property, which is owned by Leon Yablonski and Wanda Yablonski. A hearing into the matter has been scheduled for April 22, but attorney Lane M. Turturice, who represents the Malden residents, said it will likely be rescheduled to a later date.

Court documents in the case say the building permit is for a 21,315-square-foot building that would be 18 feet tall. Turturice said the borough issued the permit.

Lazzaro said land involved is four 200-by-100-foot parcels and four partial parcels. The four partial lots border Route 40.

Solomon has said at previous council meetings that he was considering buying the property as a relocation site for his Chrylser, Dodge and Jeep dealership, which is now in Fredericktown.

He also owns a Chrysler and Dodge dealership in Carmichaels. A call was made to there after the hearing, but an employee said he had left for the day. The employee agreed to contact Solomon at his home and ask him to call the Herald-Standard, but he did not call the paper.

Turturice said he sought the injunction against Solomon to gain time to resolve the zoning matter.

He argued that council did not follow the legal procedure to rezone land. Three public hearings, which must be advertised, are required for rezoning and the last hearing that the borough can prove it advertised was held in 1997, he said. The law also requires municipalities to approve rezoning within 90 days of the last hearing, he said.

“I think you better take a look at you notices of publication,” Turturice said. “You took action three years after your last public hearing.”

Borough solicitor Dennis Makel said council approved the rezoning within 90 days of a public hearing, but Turturice said the borough has no proof that it advertised that hearing.

Makel said Tuesday’s hearing was continued because he wants to meet with Solomon’s attorney and Turturice to try to work out some sort of resolution.

“For the record, I object to that,” Turturice responded.

Several council members said they did not understand why Malden area residents did not know about the rezoning plan.

“I don’t understand. There’s six wards. Five wards knew; one ward didn’t,” Councilwoman Mariann Bailey said.

Council President Ed Sukal said the dealership began to express interest in the property more than a year after the zoning changes were approved.

“Even if we were wrong, we can go back and re-enact the ordinance. Then we’re back to square one,” Makel said, “How do we resolve the situation with litigation to the high heavens.”

He suggested that council might consider rezoning Malden back to residential, but leaving the proposed dealership site in a commercial zone.

A resident said a dealership would create traffic, lighting and noise problems for residents because it would be built very close to houses.

Tim Terhorst, who also lives on Howard Avenue, said a dealership in Malden would “break up” the nicest residential area in the borough and there are many other areas were a business could operate without disrupting a neighborhood.

He described Malden as the borough’s “honey pot” for tax revenue. “This is where half your taxes come from.”

“You have a residential neighborhood,” Terhorst said. “You know this is going to break up the neighborhood. Who wants to live next to car dealership? Why disrupt a community?”

Councilwoman Susie Zebley said the property in question was advertised for sale as commercial property and Solomon could sue the borough if council rezones it now because he has already made some investment in the land.

Turturice said the property sale has not yet been closed and little work has been done on the property.