By EARL KERR

The Post contributor

Nearly 75 people attended the township zoning resolution information meeting at Congress Community Church February 15. Many former members of the zoning commission, board of zoning appeals and current township trustees were there to make presentations and answer questions. Also present was a contingent of West Salem village residents.

The subject matter was Issue 1 on the March 6 primary election ballot, passage of which would re-implement zoning in Congress Township. Attendees in the room appeared to be divided into three positional alignments: roughly a third of the room in favor of Issue 1, a third opposed, and less than a third undecided. That division of opinion made for lively discussion.

Even as Dave Knight tried to open the meeting, he was met with procedural questions. Knight chaired the committee that drafted the zoning resolution being submitted to the voters and as he explained that there would be four simultaneous presentations conducted, he was interrupted. Shawna Stewart, a West Salem resident, raised an objection that four separate sessions would not allow for any sharing of questions or ideas among the entire audience.

Knight explained that with the resolution passed by the trustees in November, the time for ideas was passed along with it and the questions could be addressed in any of the four sessions. Stewart seemed to suggest that the format was a "divide and conquer" technique to stifle dissent. Knight said the format was more efficient as people could choose the subject that most concerned them.

It turned out that Stewart was right, but for a very different reason. The four sessions produced speakers and questioners unable to hear each other due to the acoustics and competing voices all in one room. Reporters present had to move among the sessions to hear different commentaries, resulting in approximately 75 percent of discussions being unreported.

One of the first questions posed in the session chaired by Knight was why the township did not amend the 1994 zoning resolution that was under attack in court by Phantom Fireworks. The questioner noted that the Phantom fight took almost six years and should have allowed time to fix the problem by amendment.

Knight answered that an amendment was in-process when Phantom prevailed in court. The court voided Congress Township Zoning. In that discussion, it was pointed out that the 1994 resolution was only amended once in 17 years.

Stewart then noted that the proposed zoning places both of the township's business areas adjacent to West Salem. Her point was that this "greatly affects the village." She asked why there was "no attempt made to discuss it" with anyone in the village? Knight responded that such discussions were held and it was agreed that it made sense to concentrate business development by the village where water and sewer are available. A person standing in the crowd next to West Salem Mayor Dale Klinect stated that no contact had been made with the mayor. The mayor was silent. Knight pointed out that Klinect was just elected.

Another questioner raised another regarding the need of zoning.

"Since Congress Township survived until 1994 without zoning, why do we need it now?" He followed up by saying that zoning takes away people's rights. "Zoning is giving up your personal freedoms and rights so you can have a say about some of your neighbors freedoms and rights," Knight answered.

Stewart then asked why the proposed zoning resolution is not available for the public to view online as was promised at the trustees November meeting. Someone not on the panel responded that the resolution is available at www.congresstownship.com when you click on "resources."

Councilman Jim Ramsey, of West Salem, then asked "Why not make the best location in the township for business, zoned for business?" He was referring to the intersection of State Route 539 and Interstate 71. Trustee Jim Rice responded by saying that the resolution could be amended to add that later as long as it's not "spot zoning." Trustee Dave Hastings countered Ramsey's claim of it being such a great business location by saying, "Look at all the closed businesses at route 83 and I71."

Dean McIlvaine claimed the township was zoning for business based on where municipal water and sewer were available, but "You can't zone for water and sewer if you don't control the water and sewer."

The elected and appointed officials at the meeting thanked the separate audiences for coming and closed the meeting before the anticipated 8:30 closing time. Some remained behind for further discussion.