Wickliffe putting zoning issue on March ballot

Wickliffe is putting a zoning issue on the ballot for the March 17 Primary Election that would seek to clarify and correct multiple zoning boundaries on the city’s zoning map.

City Engineer Peter Formica explained that a 2003 version of the map was zoned by an outside firm and due to zones being colored in by hand various parcels were misidentified.

Formica cites between 38 to 40 parcels being affected by this discrepancy.

Council member Peter Jaworski elaborated on the issue at a recent council meeting.

“It cleans up any discrepancies which are currently on the zoning map which was voted into effect in 2003,” he said. “Those were human-made errors when someone was coloring in a map by hand. After this, Wickliffe will have a digital zoning map. Everything will be correct thanks to the painstaking efforts, even though he said it was very fun, by our city engineer to make sure that our map is correct as according to law.”

On the same ballot, Wickliffe’s 8,265 registered voters will also decide on a separate issue, but one that is tied to the same zoning misinformation.

“Sweetberry (Fresh Market; 30022 Euclid Ave.) has come to the planning commission requesting permits to expand their business,” Jaworski said at the same meeting. “Unfortunately, due to these discrepancies, that plan is not zoned for what we all thought it was zoned for. As an act of good faith by this council, we put a zoning measure on the ballot to rezone that parcel so they can expand.

“This was something that no one (on Council) anticipated or planned for that there would be a human error mistake that no one caught that would keep them from expanding.”