The Ohio Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision on March 11 ruled that the village of Chardon’s zoning restriction against large businesses could stand. The Court decided not the hear the appeal of a developer who said the ordinance was unconstitutional. The Chardon ordinance says that businesses in a certain retail zone can not have more than 10 employees or exceed 10,000 s.f. The proposed Wal-Mart was 10 times that threshold. Voters in Chardon have twice rejected this plan at the ballot box, but the developer has suggested he might try a third time. The Attorneyfor the village said the court rulings support “the main idea (that) the village has a legitimate governmental purpose of keeping certain areas free from what I’ll call the large box retail stores.” The court ruling is seen as a victory for the right of towns to define size limits for stores as part of their legitimate police powers in the zoning context.
Informational only.
