Recordpub.com - Zoning out, Lomaz to return fireworks to Deerfield

By Diane Smith

Record-Courier staff writer

DEERFIELD — The township’s zoning code is out, and make no mistake about it — Larry Lomaz and Midwest Fireworks are on their way back.

Lomaz, who says his investment company owns the land on U.S. 224 where he operated Midwest Fireworks for many years, says he’s bringing everything back — the fireworks, the concerts, and, no question, the controversy that raged over the business for decades.

“You will see the property cleaned up,” he said. “It will be bigger and better, there will be 50 to 100 employees, and it will be an active part of the community.”

Lomaz claims he didn’t hear about the current referendum until six weeks ago, but he’s no stranger to the controversy over zoning in Deerfield. Several years ago, he was a supporter of another zoning referendum which was defeated by voters, and later, he sued challenging the constitutionality of the zoning code.

He said he was already planning to come back to Deerfield, and crews are already starting the electrical work. However, his rebuilding efforts were stymied because the zoning code limited how much he could rebuild. Now, he said, he can rebuild all 28 buildings on his property.

“I’ve never dealt with such archaic zoning in all my life,” he said, claiming that the code discourages business growth. “What we were pleased with is that the voters of Deerfield township are fed up with the state of affairs, and they want change.”

He said not having zoning will encourage business development.

“That town has looked the same for 30 years,” he said. “It’s like the twilight zone.”

His neighbors, Doris and Jesse Carver, are not looking forward to the return of Midwest Fireworks. Their farm is across the street from the Lomaz property.

“He hates us because we stood up to him,” Doris Carver said. “I am worried about our property. He is mean, he is devious, he is evil ... That kind of thing attracts everything bad.”

She worries that a large strip of land which is for sale will be sold and turned into an adult bookstore or a bar, just to harass them.

“He will do that on purpose,” she said. “I’m going to be afraid to leave my house. He’s an evil, nasty person.”

Jesse Carver said he and his wife have owned their farm for 47 years, and are not moving.

“Now, with no zoning, my God, he can do anything he wants,” he said.

Both are upset with Miles Felmly, the township’s fire chief, who had backed the zoning referendum.

Before the election, Deerfield residents got a letter urging them to support the zoning repeal. The letter was not signed, and did not have the name of a committee that paid for it, which Carver believes is a violation of election laws. He plans to challenge the mailing before the Ohio Secretary of State.

Ronald Crane, who was zoning inspector for 10 years, said the zoning will be officially repealed as soon as the votes are certified.

The day after the election, Crane said, a man walked into his office, and said, “I voted to repeal zoning. How do we get it back?” Crane said he asked him why he supported the repeal if he wanted zoning.

Right now, Crane is keeping busy entering the township’s cemetery records into the computer. However, he said, he always considered zoning a “volunteer job” because the pay averaged out to about $1 an hour.

Fiscal officer Nancy Cowan said the township has spent $6,700 for zoning this year, and has taken in about $4,000 in permit fees.

Crane said Deerfield is now the only township in Portage County without zoning, although neighboring Berlin Center and parts of Smith township, both in Mahoning County, are without a zoning code.

The loss of zoning, he said, “set the township back 30 years.”

In a letter to the editor, Crane laments that he “apparently failed” the township, and “cannot express how sorry this makes me.”

He said the zoning referendum was initiated by the owner of a junkyard on S.R. 14 who was not permitted to expand onto a used car lot. However, he said, the junkyard still will not be able to expand because doing so is a violation of state law.

He dismissed complaints that zoning is enforced selectively as “totally untrue.”

“You’d be surprised how many people would come in and want us to make exceptions to the rules,” he said. “I used to tell them I didn’t have the authority to do that.”