Chestnut Ridge development paused as city reviews area traffic issues

ELYRIA — The city canceled its Tuesday Planning Commission meeting after the sole applicant on the agenda, Luv Retail, temporarily withdrew its requests regarding development of the former Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church. Mayor Kevin Brubaker said that the Florida-based company had agreed to remove three requests, all of which were due for public hearings Tuesday, from the agenda to allow the city to finish its ongoing traffic study of the Chestnut Ridge Road and state Route 57 intersection. "I worked with Luv Retail to pull that from the agenda until we get our traffic study back, and we know what we have to do not only to fix the traffic that is going to come from what they are doing, but also our current traffic issue over there," Brubaker said on Tuesday. "... We have been communicating back and forth (with Luv). They want to see the project move forward. We want to see the project move forward. They want to do it right, and we want to do it right." The requests before the Planning Commission had been to rezone the property from residential to business, establish a subdivision and grant a variance for the site's fencing. Brubaker said that the traffic study was expected to be complete by April, and it would include suggestions for how to alleviate traffic for the area, not just for the planned development. Since the construction of the Chestnut Commons shopping center, residents have frequently complained of heavy traffic and long waits, which they say have only been exacerbated by later commercial development nearby. Councilman Ed Doehne, D-3rd Ward, who represents the area, said that he felt that prior developments in the area had been done without much concern for the residents or the traffic. With the development waiting on the traffic study, he said he believed the city was doing a better job on both fronts. "We are excited to have this project down there, but we need to make sure that the infrastructure can handle it first," Doehne said. "So with them pausing the project, we are happy that we will be able to get that accomplished." In September, City Council voted to annex three properties on the northwest corner of the Chestnut Ridge Road and state Route 57 owned by the church. One parcel was annexed from Eaton Township, while two were annexed from Carlisle Township, despite the opposition of township representatives. The church then sold the properties to Luv, which plans to put a commercial development on the site. According to city planning documents, the latest plan includes five commercial properties: a gas station, a Take 5 oil-change shop, a Panda Express, a Chipotle and a Chick-fil-A. Doehne said that his biggest focus regarding the development was ensuring that the owners of neighboring residential parcels were heard and their concerns were addressed. "We are excited to have the economic development there," Doehne said. "We just want to make sure it is going to work for the neighborhood. The other thing is, we want to make sure that the people make that choice. As a representative, I want to make sure all these meetings are very transparent and that everybody has all the information, and that everybody has a voice on that decision" Doehne's predecessor as 3rd Ward Council representative, Mary Siwierka, shared the news that the public hearings had been postponed on Facebook, saying she was happy that the city was taking the traffic concerns seriously. Siwierka, along with Councilman Andrew Lipian, I-1st Ward, voted against the annexation in September. She said Tuesday that although she was happy that the city was not rushing the rezoning of the property, she still felt that the development should be placed elsewhere. "I don't think we should turn our back, certainly, because there are a couple things that are proposed that are things we don't have in the city," Siwierka said. "What I'm just saying is, I think there are several other choices in the city that are a better fit and would have caused less problems." Brubaker said that the city has had conversations with Luv about potentially implementing a tax increment financing, or TIF, agreement for the property. Under a TIF, property owners in a development do not pay traditional property taxes, but instead pay into a fund which goes to pay off public improvements made to create the project, such as sewers, streets and streetlights. The public improvements a TIF applies to are not limited to those in the development though, as they can also be applied to any improvement which benefits the area the development is in. Brubaker said this means that a TIF for the development could also be used to fund traffic improvements at the neighboring intersection. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.