Springboro OKs change to advance historic downtown venue plans

The owner of Springboro land at 500 East St. - a block east of South Main Street, or Ohio 741 - wants to rezone 1.3 acres from residential to business. The site includes a shed built in the mid-1800s, a structure the city put on a state historic inventory, records show. NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF PHOTO

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF PHOTO

Credit: NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF PHOTO

The owner of Springboro land at 500 East St. - a block east of South Main Street, or Ohio 741 - wants to rezone 1.3 acres from residential to business. The site includes a shed built in the mid-1800s, a structure the city put on a state historic inventory, records show. NICK BLIZZARD/STAFF PHOTO

A proposal to convert a site in Springboro’s downtown historic district into a special events venue will go forward.

Owner Doug Massey said he would like to have events such as corporate business retreats, family gatherings and small weddings at 500 East St., a block east of Ohio 741, or South Main Street.

Springboro City Council Thursday night voted 5-0 to change the site’s land use after earlier concerns raised about parking, oversight and safety for the proposal.

Massey said he made changes to adequately address those issues. Massey said he will submit specific plans to the city with the goal of hosting events next spring.

Springboro City Manager Chris Pozzuto said the plans would require review from the city’s architectural review board.

Council’s approval will rezone 1.3 acres — which Springboro Planner Dan Boron said makes it “one of the largest properties in our historic district” — from residential to business to host events he estimated would range from 50 to 70 people.

The site that includes two structures built in the mid-1800s and the city included it in a 1997 list for the Ohio Historic Inventory, Springboro records show.

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