Is Anyone Representing Twinsburg Residents or Voters?

Confusion was apparent at several public meetings recently for Twinsburg’s new Law Director, Matt Vazzana, along with short-term Mayor, Yates (leaving Twinsburg for a position in Florida) along with City Council members, the City Planner, and Planning Commission members seemed completely baffled as to what the legal height of buildings was in industrial zoned districts in Twinsburg! Sally Gaydosh, Statutory Agent for Active Citizens of Twinsburg (ACT) whom recently attended a Planning Commission Meeting and a City Council meeting questioning the lawful height of buildings in industrial zoned property with her 2014 court ruling from Judge Jones who’s ruling required a vote of the people for Ordinance 97-2012 to be valid. The city’s zoning code shows Ordinance 97-2012 as its authority in law and no records exist at City Hall or the Summit County Board of Elections indicating a vote of the people, as stipulated in the court ruling. The court ruling says unless Ordinance 98-2012 is approved by voters the original zoning code last approved by voters in 1989 is the valid code and it allows a maximum height of 35’.

This invalidated ordinance is in the zoning code meaning someone tampered with the law and who will be held accountable? The city may have been exploiting and enforcing an invalid section of the zoning code including the Planning Commission and City Council whom recommended and approved building heights up to 45’ for buildings in industrial zoned districts? No one is publicly taking responsibility for this aggreges negligence in administering the zoning law to date. Over the years Twinsburg City Council has failed on multiple occasions, according to court rulings, to uphold the right to vote reserved by the people in City Charter, Section 7A.01. A visit to the Active Citizens of Twinsburg (ACT) website can provide more details on court actions taken, here is a link – www.activecitizensoftwinsburg.com. The unanswered question is ‘What other section(s) of the zoning laws in Twinsburg are possibly illegally tampered with or not lawfully enacted like Ordinance 97-2012?

The Planning Commission is authorized with ‘all power’ in the City Charter as seen here:

Sally Gaydosh was only allowed to speak for only 4 or 5 minutes at the May 16th, Planning Commission meeting, as were the other residents from Old Mill Rd, where several large industrial buildings are proposed to be built (known as Project Gumbo). Residents expressed concerns with the city’s procedures and administration of the laws, including how industrial zoning could directly abut residential properties without any transitional buffer zone separating them? Who is responsible for such negligent planning and how could the city fail so miserably at protecting abutting residential residents? Sally Gaydosh informed the Planning Commission, Law Director, Mayor, and City Planner that the official Zoning Code currently is invalid regarding the height of buildings as stipulated in Section 1149.09:

When Sally Gaydosh appeared in person at the Planning Commission meeting waving a copy of the official court ruling by Judge Jones from September 6, 2014 wherein the court ruled Ordinance 97-2012 invalid unless approved by voters, her statements fell on deaf ears. Sally Gaydosh and attorney, Warner Mendenhall, representing the people and the people’s right to vote on zoning issue(s) have always received favorable court rulings. One wonders what Twinsburg would look like today had Sally Gaydosh not been watching closely what city leadership was doing, like the issue on height in Industrial Zoned Districts. . .

Judge Jones in the court ruling confirmed and reiterated that the people of Twinsburg must vote on Ordinance 97-2012 in order for Section 1149.09 of the zoning regulations to be valid; since no record of Twinsburg ever allowing the people their right to vote has taken place, Ordinance 97-2012 is not validated, right, at least regarding Section 1149.09. Here is the portion of the court ruling issued by Judge Jones:

It seemed simple enough to Sally Gaydosh, the long-time defender of the people’s right to vote, whom produced the court ruling (apparently long forgotten by city leadership) at the Planning Commission meeting to prove her assertion that the height of buildings should be 35’, however, the City Planner, Ms. Muter, when asked what the allowed height in the I-2 District was, stated 45’ feet to which the Law Director, Mr. Vazzana confirmed by stating Ms. Muter, City Planner is correct and Sally Gaydosh is wrong, without ever looking at the court ruling! Of course Ms. Muter and Mr. Vazzana where both wrong, Sally Gaydosh was right again. Perhaps residents should be asking the county prosecutor for an opinion on who is responsible in this matter?

Perhaps the Planning Commission should investigate the issue(s) surrounding Ordinance 97-2012 and even an independent audit of the whole zoning code is warranted? The reasonable question would be; what other section(s) of the zoning code may have been tampered with or manipulated or improperly enforced over the last decade? What happens now if the ‘official’ zoning code of Twinsburg has been tampered with and what buildings in the past decade or more have been approved using invalidated zoning laws? The new Law Director said that issues raised at that Planning Commission meeting would be addressed, but to date, no written legal opinion(s) have been presented in any public meetings!

The approval process for project Gumbo’s site plan was before City Council on May 24th where again multiple residents from the Old Mill Rd area voiced concerns and issues regarding various sections of the Twinsburg procedures and laws and there question(s) went unanswered again. At this meeting Sally Gaydosh appeared again, this time with attorney, Warner Mendenhall, whom along with Sally Gaydosh have together won nine (9) separate court rulings, many of those dealt with the City of Twinsburg ignoring or sidestepping the unique right(s) reserved by the people in Section 7A.01 of Twinsburg’s City Charter. The court rulings, some even after appeal by the city, have always upheld the voters rights in Section 7A.01 whenever the City Council following Law Director recommendation has failed to allow voters their right(s) to decide at the ballot box on zoning issues. Is it a trend by City Council to deny the rights of Twinsburg residents/voters in determining how their community is developed? It would seem so!

Mr. Mendenhall reminded the Law Director, Mayor, and City Council that restricting citizens to 4-5 minutes in Planning Commission or Council meetings and restricting the number of people that can address their concerns on a similar topic or issue in a Council meeting could be seen as a violation of the 1st Amendment of the U S Constitution, the right to ‘free speech’. The Council after a last-minute executive session called for by outgoing Mayor, Yates, Council decided to continue the site plan decision for project Gumbo at a later date due to unanswered questions and legal concerns from residents on Old Mill Rd and attorney, Warner Mendenhall.

The residents from Old Mill Rd, hoping to protect their homes have conducted and paid for special tests regarding water hydraulics and other concerns, which they believe should be protected by the zoning laws and comprehensive plans, however, the City Council members, after several stating that they care about residents, have repeatedly voted for out of state and out of town developers with recommendations from administrative experts whom they say ‘we get recommendations from administrators and other agencies and must approve them because City Council members are not experts’! Why would any elected official that took an oath of office to protect and defend the Law(s) continually ignore the pleas of residents and their paid for expert reports in favor of non-resident developer(s)? Faced with a decision such as this, why would City Council not make the developer(s) go to court instead of residents whom pay the taxes that pay the City Council members to represent them? It becomes clearer to Citizen Auditor, Sengstock all the time, what Thomas Jefferson meant when he said ‘In a Republic we elect the government, we deserve’. Perhaps the voters of Twinsburg will have a different outlook on making changes in elected leadership with the unexpired term of resigning Mayor Yates on the November 8th ballot in Twinsburg?

This is the first of a serious of articles to be placed in the Twinsburg Patch. Although long and detailed in specifics, an article of this nature is difficult if not impossible to do in a letter to the editor; therefore, those readers will have to be patient to be informed. Mr. Sengstock is thankful that the ‘Patch’ exists and provides a forum for longer more investigative articles.

Loren Sengstock, Citizen Auditors of Ohio

2226 Manoa Rd

Toledo, OH 43615

July 30, 2022