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Wheeling City Council is planning to discuss possibly welcoming new residents into the city, and whether single-family neighborhoods can rent out garage apartments and other accessory structures, during today's scheduled meeting.
Council will meet at noon today at the City-County Building at 1500 Chapline St.
Among the agenda items is further discussion about annexing Danfield Drive near Elm Grove. The street, on which 11 homes sit, is actually in Marshall County even though the only way to access it is from Wheeling city streets.
An ordinance was introduced in December to welcome Danfield Drive residents into Wheeling's fold, but that was tabled in order for city staff to research the matter further. Vice Mayor Chad Thalman had concerns over the move.
Thalman wanted to know if annexing Danfield Drive would bring sufficient tax revenue into the city or would it cost more to service the neighborhood's road and provide fire and police service than the revenue collected.
He also was concerned that paving Danfield would rise to the top of the city's to-do list over paving roads of longer-term taxpayers.
Also on the agenda is a resolution asking the city planning commission to review proposed amendments to zoning ordinances that would allow property owners in single-family residential neighborhoods to rent out garage apartments and similar accessory structures. Current zoning ordinances forbid that.
Council members have offered differing opinions on that move. Mayor Glenn Elliott supports the change, saying it will allow for more neighborhood flexibility and could improve property values. Councilmen Ben Seidler and Jerry Sklavounakis had some issues with such changes. Seidler was worried that allowing such rentals would complicate the parking situation in some neighborhoods.
Sklavounakis believed the change could eliminate single-family districts in Wheeling's city limits.