Current town code calls for businesses in accessory buildings to be run by town residents, while the draft master plan currently under review would allow buildings to be rented by outsiders for commercial use.

Speaking at the Aug. 2 public hearing for the plan, Meg Menke, chair of the town's planning commission, said the proposed change would provide more opportunities for residents.

Mayor Pete Menke, also a member of the planning commission, said planners were thinking of situations such as a grown child living outside town limits who wanted to run a craft shop or some other business from an out-building at the family home.

Barnesville resident Glen Pearcy said he had had problems with an illegal business that had operated next door to his home and was concerned about encouraging any more such activity.

"I think we have more outbuildings than we have buildings," William Price of Barnesville agreed. "[If everyone rented out an accessory building] we'd increase our density by almost double. ... I'm very, very opposed to it."

Price recommended that language in the plan be tightened to require a business applicant be an owner/occupant of the land.

The issue was separate, town officials said, from an attempt to bring existing cottage industries into compliance with the zoning code, another move recommended by planners.

A July 28 letter sent to all property holders included a survey asking about current non-residential uses. Mayor Menke said 12-15 "cottage" businesses are operating without the required special exception from the town Appeals Board. Menke said the town did not object to the businesses, but wanted them to comply with the legal process.

The draft master plan, intended to guide the town's policy for the next five years, also calls for increasing the minimum residential lot size from 2 to 4 acres; lowering maximum building height for non-agricultural structures; and imposing new restrictions on road frontage for new buildings.

Walter Prichard of Dickerson, who owns 10 acres in town, addressed the first of those recommendations in his testimony. Prichard pointed out that he had received transfer development rights (TDRs) from the county when land he owned was down zoned during the creation of the Agricultural Reserve.

"I wonder if what you're coming up with won't be disadvantaging people who've been here a long time," Prichard said. "Is there any compensation for what I call a taking?"

Only two areas were suitable for septic service on his Barnesville property, Prichard said, so the proposed change would not affect the number of homes on the land, but he wanted to be able to have a lot of less than 4 acres and to speak for others who might feel the same.

Barnesville town attorney Bill Roberts said town subdivision laws might be modified to allow clustering, which would allow Prichard to divide his land as seemed best.

Several residents spoke about an absence from the plan that concerned them. Planners had recommended sidewalks in some areas but suggested residents on the south side of town, where obtaining a right-of-way would be difficult, instead pool their resources for a private path.

Price called that language "discriminatory."

"It wouldn't hurt to put [south Barnesville sidewalks] in the master plan just out of fairness," said resident George Miller. "If they ever get funded or not, fine, but it doesn't seem fair just out of the starting gate to say 'stop here.' "

After the hearing, the planning commission decided to delay approval of the draft in order to consider citizen comments. Once the group approves a draft, the town commission will have final say on the document.

Barnesville is a collection of 65 homes set in the middle of the county's Agricultural Reserve. The approximately 20 attendees at last week's hearing made up nearly a fifth of the town's adult population