BEAVERCREEK — Plans for a new Holiday Inn Express in Beavercreek have been stalled because of the original heights of the building. The builders approached city council with a request for rezoning and drafted site plan for a lower structure.

“The number of rooms available in this hotel depends on the number of parking spaces the developer can fit on the property,” Beavercreek City Planning & Zoning Director Jeff McGraff said. “But, the drafted plan indicates approximately 90 rooms.”

Holiday Inn Express anticipates construction of a 2.4 acre of land located at Lakeview Drive and Esquire Drive. The applicant requests rezoning from C-PUD with a B3 underlying zoning to C-PUD [Commercial Planned Unit Development]. This property is currently vacant.

The current zoning for this property, because of the B3 underlying restriction, puts provisions in place that limit the building height to 35 feet. For the construction of the hotel, it requires a 50-foot height limitation.

There were no public comments at the recent meeting.

Land uses for this type of PUD exclude businesses such as funeral homes, pawn shops, teen clubs, tattoo and piercing parlors, hookah bars, bingo halls, just to name a few. So, having a hotel in this space, is a good use of land.

The planning commission recommended the approval of the application with five conditions including the exclusions of the land use, setbacks, buffers and architecture requirements.

“So, the only real change to the application is the height of the building?” Mayor Bob Stone asked.

“Yes,” McGraff said.

The application was approved and will move to the second and third reading before officially approved.

By Danielle Coots

For the News-Current