Politics & Government

BZA Votes to Extend Deadline to Move Topsoil Mound Out of Flood Plain

Chairman Charles Pinkerman breaks rank with others and votes against extending the deadline

The Mentor Board of Zoning Appeals decided to give JTO Inc. and Jiggy Ltd. near Diamond Center Drive behind Trask Plaza.

The BZA gave the companies a 6-month extension. However, they did not vote unanimously as BZA Chairman Charles Pinkerman broke rank and voted against it.

The companies made the mound because they had stripped the topsoil so they could reroute and improve the nearby Wasson Ditch, said Timothy Posar of Jiggy Ltd. This is all part of a project to make 54 acres of the 91-acre plot suitable for development, Posar added.

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Posar said they had received permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to do the project, but they had not realized they also needed approval from the city of Mentor to work in a flood plain.

"We thought our permit from the Army Corps of Engineers covered everything," he told the Board during a BZA meeting Wednesday at .

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Posar added that they were waiting for FEMA to approve some changes to their plans and they preferred to not move the mound until FEMA gave them an answer.

Flood Plain Administrator James Decker had initially ordered the businesses to remove the mound, which is 30 ft. by 300 ft. by 7 ft. However, he did not object to the extension.

Decker said the mound would only affect flooding in the year if there was a 100-year flood event or worse.

Posar said the mound does not affect the function of the flood plain. To which Pinkerman replied, "You keep saying it won't affect the flood plain. Is there any way you can substantiate that?"

Decker then added that he did not think the mound would affect the flood plain.

The board voted 6-1 to grant the extension. Pinkerman, the lone dissenter, said, "I guess I have a problem with the pile sitting there for six months when it would only take a few weeks to push it around."

Bernard Urban, a fellow BZA member, replied to Pinkerman and said, "But I'm under the impression that it's not doing any harm."


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