Elyria Council to vote on 50-unit subdivision on Brunswick Drive

A new 50-unit subdivision appears on track to be built in southwest Elyria, after the city's Planning Commission voted to approve a preliminary development plan for the project. The commission voted Tuesday to approve the preliminary plan put forward by the Dale Yost Construction Company for a development just south of the West Ridge Road and Brunswick Drive intersection. The proposed development would be the fifth in a line of similar subdivisions built by the company in recent years. Dale Yost Construction owner Bob Yost went before the commission to present the plan for a cluster subdivision, which he said will be named "Juniper Ridge." Yost added that it will be similar to the company's Ridge Water development. The plan includes 50 housing units to be built on just under seven acres of land off Brunswick Drive. Yost said that the development's roads would connect to both West Ridge Road and Brunswick Drive and would be privately owned, meaning the development's homeowners association would plow and maintain them. During a public hearing before the vote Tuesday, Chief Building Official Darryl Farkas said that the development plan had 7.3 homes per acre. That is more than the five homes per acre the city allows, but the commission and City Council have already approved a conditional use permit allowing Yost to build the subdivision more densely. "The density is no greater than what we've done in the past four or five subdivisions that we've done (in Elyria)," Yost said on Tuesday. "Basically, the units fit the land the way the land is on the corner." Farkas said that he would be in support of the development should the commission approve it, which it did unanimously. As he has with all of the recent developments built by Yost Construction, Fire Marshal William Gall took issue with the size of the streets in the proposed subdivision. The preliminary plan includes 24-foot-wide streets with a sidewalk on one side, which Gall pointed out is narrower than the 28 feet required by city code. "During an emergency event, of course, our accessibility is paramount, so having a road at 24 (feet wide) or less creates an opportunity for an obstruction," Gall said. "... I'm gonna stay consistent by saying that as fire marshal, I'll always be against roads that are less than our city ordinance." Yost said that none of his other developments with streets the same size have seen any problems with fire or EMS access, and that most people who parked in the subdivision would do so in designate off-street parking rather than the street. "We haven't had any responses that have been compromised to his (Yost's) developments, no," Gall said during the public hearing. "We've had some on other narrower streets in the city, it's just all about timing. You can't predict when that vehicle will be there." The commission also heard from Michelle Dull, community manager for West Ridge Green Mobile Homes, which borders the proposed development to the southeast. Dull spoke during the "opponents" section of the hearing but said that she was not necessarily against the subdivision project. Instead, Dull said she was there to ensure that the new development would not cause flooding in the mobile home park as she said other recent nearby housing developments had. "I just want to ensure that there is something going to be done as far as the stormwater, the runoff, how it's gonna be diverted, where the retention pond is gonna be located," Dull said. "Because as we all know, once they install houses and it's no longer ground, (it's) going to create more water going into our park and the surrounding areas." Yost said that the subdivision would follow all city and state regulations for stormwater drainage and that the drainage system would be "extensive." "We will definitely control our stormwater," he said. With the vote of the Planning Commission, the preliminary development plan will move to City Council for a vote. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.