BOARDMAN TWP., Ohio - The Boardman Township Zoning Commission voted unanimously Tuesday night to deny a zone change for the Meijer store coming to the area.

The company would like to build a gas station at Lockwood Boulevard and Tippecanoe Road, which is across from the Meijer store. Some neighbors have posted yard signs opposing the zone change.

The vote by the zoning commission to deny the request to rezone the property from business to commercial came after residents' opinions were heard during a public meeting.

Seventy-three written public comments were submitted in advance of the meeting. Seventy-one of those comments were opposed to the zone change.

Canfield Trustees even wrote a letter saying, "We respectfully ask that you consider our concerns regarding safety and additional traffic congestion...We sincerely hope this proposed project doesn't come to fruition."

During the hearing, one individual on the Zoning Commission stated, "I find many reasons to be against this request, they are not zoning reasons. As far as zoning is concerned I find the request incompatible with the accepted land use for our zoning."

Meijer representatives on the call rebuttal the arguments noting an increased buffer zone and saying traffic congestion has already been studied and is being addressed with construction improvements.

"I think a lot of the issues folks are seeing are due to the current traffic congestion, as well as the growth without these roadways improvements being in place," said the Meijer representative.

Initial site work began a couple of months ago on the store and will take 12 to 14 months to build. They plan to open in 2021.

Township trustees will have a meeting in August to make a final decision on the potential zone change.