Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Canfield city attorney Mark Fortunato gives a description Wednesday of the ordinance regarding B-3 highway business district use changes. He presented the information during a public hearing.

CANFIELD — City council members at their meeting Wednesday unanimously approved amending the B-3 Zoning District to include more uses.

Since no one attended the public hearing, council passed the zoning ordinance, which states “Ordinance Section 1141.15 shall be amended to provide that the permitted uses in B-3 Zoning Districts shall be: retail sales and services, branch or drive-in banking, restaurants (not-drive-thru), business offices, professional offices, cafes and bars. The conditionally permitted uses shall be: automotive service stations, drive-in restaurants, hotels, theaters and commercial recreation facilities.”

Following the vote, a discussion took place on the new Dairy Queen that is coming to the B-3 zone. There was a request to have something done about the parking lot belonging to a storage business in back of the new DQ. Apparently the parking lot is rough and the DQ owners want city council to do something about it.

“It is private property,” city attorney Mark Fotunato said. “The city has no role dealing with private property easements.”

Councilman Chuck Tieche said there was talk about making the parking lot a city street years ago, but it “never panned out.”

“If it were paved, I guarantee people would be flying down that road,” said Mayor Don Dragish. “I think the best solution is for everyone involved to come together.”

In related business, council approved an ordinance to authorize the city manager to enter into a contract with Pavement Management Group for pavement condition assessment at a cost not to exceed $15,000.

“They will bring in a camera that attaches to the front of a vehicle,” City Manager David D’Apolito said. “They use AI to film every road and assess them for which ones need attention.”

Councilman Chuck Tieche said the city has 170 streets with 75.07 lane miles. He asked if the company could come back with a list of streets that may need widening.

In other business, D’Apolito informed council of an online auction the city will have in order to sell off a 2008 Ford Focus, a 2009 Ford Explorer that is not running, and a 1999 International dump truck. Each motor vehicle will have a $600 reserve, and the dump truck will have a $16,000 reserve. The dump truck has a stainless steel bed, salt spreader and plow.

All the vehicles in the auction are pictured on the city’s website at https://canfield.gov/auction/ along with information on how to bid. The auction will close at 4 p.m. March 31.