Where the applicable City zoning permits headquarters or executive offices, medical offices, and accredited educational facilities, Global Country of World Peace sought to site a proposed wellness center. Global first described its proposed use as including a conference center, a restaurant. and day spa. They then explained it would be a high school and health clinic. Global then explained that the use would include an Ayurvedic medicine wellness center, with a part-time doctor overseeing treatment; a corporate development program run by a University and regional corporate offices. The planning commission rejected the proposal. Before the city council, the defendant described the “spa rooms” as treatment rooms where individuals are treated with different types of oils and massages.
The city council, following the advice of the planning commission, denied the application. The trial court upheld the denial concluding that Global’s proposal was inconsistent and “morphed” to conform to the language of the ordinance. The appeals court affirmed noting that the burden was on the applicant to demonstrate that the proposal conformed to the zoning requirements.
Global Country of World Peace v Mayfield Hts. Planning Comm., 2010 WL 2006940 (OH App. 8 Dist. 5/20/2010).
The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/8/2010/2010-ohio-2213.pdf
