Planning Commission opposes Chestnut Ridge development over traffic concerns

The Elyria Planning Commission has recommended that the city hold off on development on Chestnut Ridge Road until it can formulate a plan to alleviate traffic in the area. On Tuesday, the Planning Commission voted against a request to rezone the property of the former Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church, which was annexed into Elyria last year, from a residential to business district. Several members cited existing traffic conditions near the intersection of Chestnut Ridge Road and state Route 57 as the reason for their opposition. Heavy traffic has plagued the intersection for years since the development of Chestnut Commons and other areas nearby, and officials said they would not support further development until the city had a plan. "At this intersection, currently and for years, there has been a traffic issue," said Safety Service Director Chris Pyanowski, who is a member of the commission. "It is not speculative, it is real, and residents are dealing with it every day. … As I have said to many people, something is going to be built on that land, it is too prime a piece of property. But to add all of this without having the information about the traffic from the traffic study and a plan, sitting here in my seat with one vote, I am uncomfortable essentially voting blindly." Three proposals from Luv Retail Development, of Florida, are seeking to have the site rezoned from a residential to business district so it can be developed as a five-unit commercial subdivision featuring a gas station, a Take 5 oil-change shop, a Panda Express, a Chipotle and a Chick-fil-A. Under city rules, the requests from Luv will still go before City Council for deliberation, but with an attached recommendation from the Planning Commission that they be denied. Council does not have to abide by the recommendation of the commission. Since the property of the former church was annexed from both Carlisle and Eaton townships last year, many residents have been vocally opposed to any development at the site, most frequently due to the additional traffic. City Councilman Ed Doehne, D-3rd Ward, represents the neighborhood the property is located in, and he spoke at Tuesday's meeting to share the feelings of his residents. "If the project goes to Council committee, we would need absolute assurances that the traffic would be taken care of (and that) the buffering would be installed that is going to protect the adjacent property owners from the light, the sound and the nuisance that the business would provide," Doehne said. "I have heard from no less than 50 residents just in the week that this was announced that this was going to Planning Commission. They have all been negative." Luv Retail Principal Mark Lutner said that the company was well aware of the traffic concerns, but that it had conducted a traffic study and planned to work with the city to try and solve the problem. "We understand the importance of solving for some of the traffic issues here that have a lot of residents concerned," Lutner said Tuesday. "We are very much, and have been, working towards a roadway improvement plan that will assist in making traffic better going forward." Commission member Barry Hubbard asked if the traffic study that Luv has pursued had accounted for the planned Reaser Pointe Crossing development nearby, which could bring more than 400 townhomes to the area. The study had only considered the general population growth of the area as laid out by the Ohio Department of Transportation, said Michael Schweickart of TMS Engineers, which carried out the study. "In regards to the traffic, obviously, engineering does believe it is a main concern of the overall subdivision, and it has to be done right," City Engineer John Schneider said at Tuesday's meeting. "That is why we commissioned our own traffic study. Not only to make sure that the west side of the road is taken care of, but the east side of the road is taken care of… We would not recommend that we move forward without making sure that the improvements on Chestnut Ridge are a part of the overall subdivision approval. " Lutner told the commission that he felt that the traffic study that Luv had done did offer a solution to fix the "failing grades" at the nearby intersection, but that the city had wanted to study the entire area before taking action. Schneider said to the commission that he believed any work on Chestnut Ridge had to be done during, not after, the construction of the proposed subdivision. Brubaker said last month that the city expected to get the results of its own traffic study sometime in April. Three of Luv's proposals underwent public hearings on Tuesday; the rezoning, the subdivision plan and a more minor fencing variance. During the public hearings, residents were allowed to speak as opponents of the project. One such resident was former Elyria Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, who represented the 3rd Ward before retiring at the end of last year. Siwierka has been opposed to the Luv development since her time on Council. "I have been and continue to be opposed to this project. The traffic study has to solve the problem first. The chicken sandwiches are not worth the traffic," Siwierka said, referencing the Chick-fil-a included in the development plan. "... I would strongly, strongly encourage Planning Commission to slow this down and really come up with some long-term solutions." Evidently, the members of the commission agreed and voted to recommend the rejection of Luv's requested rezoning. It did not vote on the other requests. "(Using) that intersection multiple times a day, I don't have the creativity to come up with a traffic solution that would make that work," Hubbard said prior to the vote. "I have serious reservations going forward on even starting this process without having at least some of those (issues) solved enough where we can envision a world where traffic would not be an issue there. Approving these things contingent on assuming that we can fix a problem that for years has only gotten worse seems, just, kind of silly." Council's Community Development Committee will consider the requests at its next meeting on March 23. While the city and Luv has not yet entered into a tax increment financing, or TIF agreement, Brubaker said there has been discussion between the parties about doing so. A TIF would allow property owners in the development to pay into a separate fund in lieu of property taxes, and this fund could be used to make public improvements to the area around the subdivision, including upgrades to nearby roads. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.