During a June 23 public hearing, Dover Township’s Zoning Commission presented recommendations for changes and additions to the township’s zoning resolution, last updated in 2004. The trustees reviewed these recommendations during their July 6 meeting and approved them following a public hearing on July 20. Both public hearings were advertised in The Times Reporter ten days prior to the hearings, and the revised Dover Township Zoning Resolution was submitted to the County Recorder and went into effect August 24, 2021. The Zoning information on the Dover Township website has been updated at dovertownship.us/zoning.

Please contact Zoning Inspector Don Wallick at the Dover Township Office at 330.343.6413 or on his cell phone at 330.340.1414 if you have any questions about how these changes affect existing structures or to complete the proper paperwork for new projects.

New Additions to the Zoning Resolution
To address new challenges that have arisen in our township, five additions were added to the Zoning Resolution as items 617 – 621. These are new items and were not included in any previous version of our Zoning Resolution. The full language for each item is below:

617 Recreational Vehicles & Structures
Definition: A portable vehicular structure or recreation structure such as, but not limited to, travel trailers, RVs, boats, campers and tents.
Recreational vehicles and structures may not be used as a permanent residential or commercial structure. They may be used as temporary residential or commercial structures for a period of time not to exceed 30 days unless granted permission by the Zoning Inspector or Zoning Appeals Board. They are permitted on properties if the following conditions are met:
1) If applicable, a current license plate is displayed on the vehicle.
2) If applicable, all tires on the vehicle are functional and roadworthy.
3) Utilities such as electrical, water and sewer are not hooked up or attached to the structure for more than 30 days.
4) The vehicle or structure must leave the property at least once per calendar year.

618 Firearms
All firearms must be operated in a manner that complies with state and local hunting and discharge regulations as well as NRA backstop safety guidelines.

619 Renewable Energy
Additions of any freestanding renewable energy device, such as but not limited to freestanding wind energy conversion systems (FWECS) and solar panels, to any property within Dover Township requires a Conditional Use permit.

620 Shipping Container Homes, Tiny Homes, Guest Homes
Dover Township defines a residence as a 1,200 sq. ft. minimum building structure constructed on a frost-free foundation. Any residential structure that does not meet the definition of a residential structure requires a Conditional Use permit. No shipping container home, tiny home, or guest home is permitted in Dover Township without a Conditional Use permit.

621 Skills Games & Gambling
Definition: Skills games and gambling refer to any game, contest, or amusement in which the outcome is determined by the judgment, skill, or physical ability of the participant or by chance.
The use of skills games and/or gambling machines in Dover Township including on commercial properties for a period of time longer than seven (7) days is not permitted unless a Conditional Use Permit has been approved and issued by the Zoning Appeals Board.

Changes and Amended Language to the Zoning Resolution
Language in five articles was changed or amended to clarify fencing expectations, address the public safety issues that arise from raised decks around above ground pools, expand the definition of disabled vehicles, specify at what height unmowed lawns become noxious on residential properties, and to address cellular technology advancements. The updated language for these articles is presented below. The new or revised language is italicized.

605 Fences
A building permit is required for all fences and hedges. Fences or shrubbery shall be erected or planted with enough space for the property owner to maintain the fence or hedge as well as the property on either side. The material used shall not contain any sharp points or any other hazardous material. Fences or shrubbery shall not exceed forty-eight (48) inches in height along any side street or around the front of the property facing the street.
No fence exceeding six (6) ft. shall be erected on any portion of a lot. Height shall be figured from the ground level up. No structure, fill or vegetation shall be erected, placed, planted or allowed to grow on any corner lot so as to create a sight impairment within seventy five (75) feet of the intersecting centerlines of any two or more streets. Sight distance is determined between the centerlines at a height of three feet, nine inches (3’9”) above the actual grades of the street.

607 Pools
Public or private in-ground or above-ground swimming, wading or other pools containing more than four (4) ft. of water depth shall be considered a structure for the purpose of this Resolution. A Building Permit will be required and shall conform to all required yard and set back lines. All in-ground pools shall have a fence constructed around them to provide for public safety. All above ground pools must have a secured entrance or barrier limiting access to the pool when not in use to provide for public safety.

608 Parking Disabled Vehicles
No person shall park, store, leave, or permit the parking or storing of any unlicensed motor, watercraft or construction vehicles or equipment or any vehicle in a rusted, wrecked, junk, partially dismantled, inoperative, or abandoned condition, whether attended or not, upon any property within the Township unless it is completely enclosed within a building.

611 Objectionable, Noxious, or Dangerous Uses, Practices, or Conditions
No land or building in any district shall be occupied or used in any manner which creates or contributes to the existence of conditions which are dangerous, injurious, harmful, noxious, or objectionable, or which may otherwise adversely affect surrounding areas or adjoining premises, except that any use permitted by this Resolution may be undertaken or maintained if acceptable measures and safeguards to reduce any dangerous or objectionable conditions to acceptable limits, as established in this Section, are properly exercised. Specifically, the occupation or use of any land or building in any district shall be in violation of this Resolution if one or more of the following conditions is found to exist at any time:
Conditions 1-11 follow and are unchanged. Condition 12 has been added.

12. Residential lawns on properties zoned R1 and R2 with weeds, vegetation, or grass higher than eight inches (8”) are deemed noxious.

614 Cellular Wireless Technology Sites
In light of the opinion of the Ohio Supreme Court in Campanelli v. AT&T Wireless Services, Inc., 85 Ohio St. 3d 103, which held that townships may not regulate cellular telephone towers in commercial or industrial areas are limited to regulating them to the extent permitted by 519.211 ORC in residential area, that proposed to be located in any residential or agricultural residential area of Dover Township. The Township Zoning Inspector and/
or Clerk, when in receipt of a notice from a cellular telephone company proposing a wireless technology site, such as but not limited to a tower, pole, or an antenna, in a residential area, will immediately send to them a notice of our objection and our requirement that they be bound by the requirements of 519.211 and that they be bound and that they will be required to obtain a conditional use permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals for such a use.

To address the Regional Planning changes to the minimum lot size for properties zoned R1, the minimum lot size for an R1 property was changed from 40,000 to 60,000 square feet on the District Regulation Chart.