SIDNEY — At Monday’s Sidney Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) teleconference meeting, four requests were approved and one was denied. Also new board officers were elected at the meeting.

Mary Paulus was elected as the new board chair and Jim Fortkamp was elected the new vice-chair.

The first request OK’d by the board Monday was that of Brandon Johnson for a conditional use permit for an auto detailing business at 104 E. North St. The property is located in the B-5, Court Square business district.

The request was approved subject to the following conditions:

• A Use Compliance Certificate must be obtained prior to commencing business operations;

• The business must obtain all necessary state and local permits and inspections to comply with all applicable codes;

• Wash activities must be conducted within the garage bays and no waste water may be directed to the city stormwater drains;

• If there is a drain/drains in the garage bays, a video inspection must be completed and submitted to the city’s underground utilities department;

• The number of vehicles parked in the front of the building, adjacent to both North Street and Ohio Avenue may be no more than seven vehicles, and in the parking area behind (east) of the building, no more than seven vehicles;

• All minor motor vehicle maintenance activities must be conducted within the garage bays.

The next request approved was of Gary Stittums for an approval to construct an 8-foot by 12-foot (96-square-feet) accessory building in the front yard at 624 N. West Ave. A variance permit is needed to allow the construction of a shed in the front yard, said Community Service Director Barbara Dulworth.

This property is in the R-2, single and two-family residence district, at the south-east corner of West Avenue and Pike Street. The residence is located at the far south portion of the property, which is irregularly shaped. The location of the house creates an extraordinary condition for this property, Dulworth noted.

Stittums proposed placing the accessory building as far away from the street frontages as possible and still comply with the three-foot side yard setback and six-foot setback from the residence. A review of the neighborhood revealed two other properties in the neighborhood and district with accessory buildings located in the side yard or front yard. City staff could find no potential detrimental effects to the public welfare if the variance were to be granted.

When asked for public comments, Pike Street neighbors Jeffrey and Kim Noe expressed concern over a property line discrepancy. Dulworth said it is the responsibility of the applicant to provide accurate information to the city. It was further pointed out the variance request is a separate issue from a variance request and the property line discrepancy is a civil matter.

The board voted to unanimously approve the variance request.

The next request OK’d by the board was of Jennifer Bowersock for a conditional use permit for a home occupation at 314 Linden Ave., specifically to produce sewing and vinyl craft products. The property is a single-family dwelling located in the R-1 single family residence district.

Also Monday, the request of Michael Olivieri for a conditional use permit for a home occupation at 1118 Port Jefferson Road, specifically for a gunsmithing and custom weapons build, was approved. The property is a single-family dwelling located in the S-1 suburban residence district.

Bon Air Drive resident William Mentges asked if guns would be repaired and also sold out of the home business. Olivieri clarified no customers would be coming to his residence. He will work with gun shops and all products will be delivered to customers directly.

The last request before the board Monday, was that of Scott Dorsey, of Silverado Trucks, for a conditional use permit for outdoor storage at 720 Linden Ave. The request was denied. The property is in the I-2, general industrial district.

The proposed outdoor storage is located in the side and front yards, and therefore is not compliant with the requirement for outdoor storage to be in the rear yard only, Dulworth said. Due to placement of buildings on the property and the requirement of a minimum 20-foot setback from property lines, the proposed property cannot have outdoor storage that is in compliance with the required conditions, she said.

Dorsey was notified of the required conditions, Dulworth said, but did not provide a compliant site plan or any of the required submittals for development. Dorsey stated in return correspondence, Dulworth said, he can comply with the setback requirements, but short of demolishing all, or a portion of the larger building, there is no rear yard available in which to have storage and meet the 20-foot setback.

In addition, she said, existing outdoor storage on the property consists of vehicles, junked/ wrecked vehicles, and vehicle parts, among other items. In order for those items to be stored outside, the appropriate conditional use would be “motor vehicle wrecking yard,” which is not permitted to be located closed than 900 feet from a residential use or lot. The subject property is directly adjacent to residential uses, so cannot meet the location requirement of a wrecking yard, Dulworth said.

After Dorsey pointed out the property’s history, he said he may obtain the neighboring property from CSX railroad in the future. Paulus told him if that happened he would need to come back in the future, but the board was ruling on the facts as of Monday.

During public comments on the matter, James Wolaver and Dorothy Griffis, both Linden Avenue residents, were opposed to Dorsey’s request. They both said it looked like a junk yard and did not want a junk yard there.