Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Election recap

This month's election included the following issues (PDF):

• Brecksville
  Issue 26 (institutional rezoning): passed
• Broadview Heights
  Issue 29 (prohibit oil and gas drilling): passed

  Activists celebrated its passage, while City officials said it wouldn't stop drilling and could lead to lawsuits against the city.

• Fairview Park
  Issue 52 (church rezoning): passed
• Garfield Heights
  Issue 55 (commercial rezoning): passed
• Highland Heights
  Issue 57 (parking lot rezoning): passed
  Issue 58 (retail rezoning): failed

  City officials and the developer are considering next steps.

• Moreland Hills
  Issue 68 (retail rezoning): passed
• North Royalton
  Issue 73 (planning commission referrals): passed
• Pepper Pike
  Issue 82 (procedures for zoning code revisions): passed
• Solon
  Issue 87 (zoning charter amendment): passed
  Issues 89 & 90 (zoning code changes): passed
• Strongsville
  Issue 97 (senior housing rezoning): passed
• Westlake
  Issue 102 (mixed-use rezoning): passed
• Cuyahoga County
  Issue 108 (Port Authority levy): failed

  Port Authority leaders said they need some time to review their options, and a Plain Dealer editorial said that they "must do a far better job convincing voters it's a good investment."

In Summit County, Green residents voted to ban casino gambling and horse racing.

Visit the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for complete results.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General conducted a review of the Cleveland VA's decision to close its Brecksville campus and consolidate its facilities at the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in University Circle. The review "determined that the decision to completely vacate and close the Brecksville campus and consolidate to the Wade Park campus was not in VA's best interest" because of space, cost, and security issues. It offers a series of recommendations to address the concerns.

Plans for several local housing subdivisions have been in the news:

• The developers of the proposed Woodlands of Snowville in Brecksville have withdrawn their plans due to financing issues.
• On March 8, the Ohio EPA will hold a public meeting (PDF) to discuss the potential environmental impacts of the proposed Chestnut Woods subdivision along Great Oaks Parkway in Independence.
• Developer Randy Kertesz hopes to build a 13-lot subdivision on a 22-acre site at Miles Road and Neptune Drive in Solon.
• A local builder wants to develop a new subdivision in Strongsville at Westwood Drive and Hollo Oval. The Edgebrook development would include 74 cluster houses.

The Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center dedicated its new inpatient bed tower, homeless veterans domiciliary, and administration building at its Wade Park campus in Cleveland on Monday. The VA is concurrently winding down operations at its Brecksville campus.

When Giant Eagle opens its new store in Broadview Heights next year, the company intends to close its store on Chippewa Road in Brecksville.

The Cleveland Metroparks Commissioners were expected to approve a 99-year lease of Seneca Golf Course and the adjoining Tree Farm site from the City of Cleveland. The agreement calls for the Metroparks to make $4 million in improvements in the next five years to the property in Brecksville and Broadview Heights. Cleveland City Council approved the agreement in June.

Election recap

Bay Village
Issue 13 (attached housing): passed

Brecksville
Issue 30 (accessory structures): passed

Broadview Heights
Issue 37 (retail rezoning): passed

Fairview Park
Issues 54 & 55 (residential rezonings): passed

Mayfield Village
Issues 84 & 86 (referendum zoning changes): failed

Moreland Hills
Issue 88 (open space zoning): passed

Solon
Issue 129 (residential rezoning): failed

For complete results, visit the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Brecksville City Council decided to halt a study of Cuyahoga River flooding issues. Members agreed that the funds should be used for other stormwater projects.

The National Park Service will hold a second round of five town-hall meetings on the Western Reserve Heritage Feasibility Study. One meeting will be in Cuyahoga County, on June 22 at the Sleepy Hollow Golf Course clubhouse in Brecksville.

The City of Cleveland and the Cleveland Metroparks continue to discuss a potential 99-year lease of Seneca Golf Course and adjacent land in Broadview Heights.

Leaders of Brecksville and Broadview Heights continue to discuss the potential development of the property at the southwest corner of Route 82 and I-77. The Jacobs Group had an option on the site, but it expired in January.

The City of Cleveland may give the 470-acre Seneca Golf Course and 125 acres of neighboring greenspace to the Cleveland Metroparks. An agreement on the site in Brecksville and Broadview Heights would have to be approved by Cleveland City Council and the Metroparks Board of Park Commissioners.

Officials in Brecksville, Broadview Heights, and North Royalton have begun to seek funding for an extension of the Valley Parkway Trail through their communities. A trail alignment study (PDF, 35.6 MB), funded by a TLCI grant, was completed last year. It identified three alignment options.

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is beginning (PDF) an environmental impact statement for the modification or removal of the Canal Diversion Dam on the Cuyahoga River in Brecksville. The dam provides water for the Ohio & Erie Canal, but impairs the river's water quality. The study will attempt to balance the historic preservation and environmental perspectives. The public is invited to provide input at a meeting at the Happy Days Lodge on October 28.

The City of Brecksville is ready to enter into an agreement with the developers who will be managing the redevelopment of the Brecksville VA hospital campus.

The Brecksville Planning Commission approved plans for an 80-bed skilled nursing facility on the Pilgrim Inn property. In November, voters passed a zoning overlay for the site.

The Jacobs Group is seeking approval of a new road that would serve a possible future development at the southwest corner of Route 82 and I-77 in Brecksville and Broadview Heights.

The Plain Dealer looked at the farms operated through the Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy and profiled the three newest farms in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. An additional farm will be available for lease later this year.

Environmentalists want to remove the canal diversion dam on the Cuyahoga River in Brecksville in order to improve the river's health. However, the dam supplies water to the Ohio & Erie Canal, a National Historic Landmark. The Ohio EPA and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park are studying ways to remove the dam and keep water flowing through the canal. A Plain Dealer editorial supports their efforts.

The Veterans Administration announced plans to build an outpatient health clinic on the site of the Brookpark Golf Driving Range on Brookpark Road in Parma. Construction of the $7 million, 67,000-square foot building is expected to begin in the spring and end in mid-2010. The Brecksville outpatient clinic will be closed.

The Jacobs Group's plans for the 37-acre site at I-77 and Royalton Road in Brecksville include dividing it into three smaller properties.

Representatives of the Jacobs Group discussed the company's plans for the southwest quadrant of the interchange at I-77 and Royalton Road with the Brecksville Planning Commission. The company had previously proposed developing the site as a mixed-use development called the Arborlands.

Voters in Brecksville may have the opportunity to vote on riparian setback rules in a spring election.

Geis Companies, a local industrial developer, is using the proceeds from its January sale of ten suburban industrial properties to reinvest in projects across Greater Cleveland. Through its Hemingway Development division, the company has made purchases in Brecksville, Boston Heights, Mayfield Village, and Warrensville Heights.

In November, Brecksville voters may have the opportunity to vote on a planned development overlay that would permit the construction of the Brecksville Nursing and Rehab Center, an 80 bed skilled nursing facility on the site of the old Pilgrim Inn.

Update: City Council placed the issue on the ballot.

The cities of Brecksville, Broadview Heights, and North Royalton passed legislation in support of the Chippewa Creek Balanced Growth Initiative.

15 people applied to operate the three available farms in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Brecksville officials are reviewing the recommendations in a report about the proposed development of the Crow property at Miller Road and I-77. Mayor Hruby does not expect a rezoning decision to be made this year.

The Cuyahoga Valley National Park, in conjunction with Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservancy, is currently accepting proposals (PDF) for long-term leases of three farms in the Park: the 16 acre Martin Farm in Bath Township, the 10 acre Leyser Farm in Brecksville, and the 25 acre Gleeson Farm in Valley View.

Update: WKSU has more details.

Wade Trim completed the Stream Assessment for Chippewa Creek (PDF) it prepared for the City of Brecksville. City officials say that it will take three years to implement the first phase of the report's recommendations, and six to seven years to complete them all.

Several municipalities in Cuyahoga County are attempting to address stormwater issues in different ways:

• North Royalton organized a citizen's committee that recommended several strategies, including infrastructure improvements and floodplain expansions.
• Parma Heights is focusing on sewer maintenance.
• Broadview Heights City Council approved a funding mechanism for stormwater infrastructure maintenance and repair.

On August 22, the City of Brecksville will hold a public meeting to gather input about proposed retail developments at the Crow property and the Veterans Administration site. Mayor Hruby would like to see about 400,000 square feet of retail built on the VA property, but opposes building a big box store.

Brecksville City Council approved an agreement with Palmieri Builders that will end the company's lawsuit against the City. The agreement calls for the 102 acre former B.F. Goodrich property at the southwest corner of Hillsdale Road and Parkview Drive to be rezoned from office/laboratory to residential. The site will be developed as two subdivisions, one limited to ten houses, and the other limited to 46 houses.

Brecksville City Council tabled the water main maintenance and no poaching agreement offered by the City of Cleveland, until they can determine if the VA Center consolidation would be covered by the agreement.

The City of Brecksville may purchase 3.27 acres in Broadview Heights to create a stormwater detention basin. Approvals from the Broadview Heights Planning Commission and City Council are needed for the project to proceed.

The City of Brecksville hired Wade Trim to conduct to assess the middle branch of Chippewa Creek. The study will examine the overall condition of the riparian area and provide suggestions for addressing the stability of the banks and channel.

The Dalad Group and Richard E. Jacobs Group want to develop the 64 acre Crow property on Miller Road between I-77 and Brecksville Road in Brecksville. They would like to build 400,000 square feet of upscale retail on the site and a gated residential community at its north end. Their plans also call for developing part of the neighboring VA property that was recently obtained by the City.

CB Richard Ellis expects Greater Cleveland retail construction to slow in 2007. "It's a time when you've had so much development come onto the market in such a short period of time, the market just needs to adjust itself," explains Keith Hamulak. He also predicts that a lifestyle center will be built on the site of the former Brecksville VA hospital.

Prompted by last summer's flooding, Brecksville officials identified 40 residential and 24 industrial retention basins in the city, and will notify owners of their maintenance responsibilities. The City of Broadview Heights recently took a similar action.

Some people in Northeast Ohio are leery of Maharishi's plans to build Peace Palaces in Brecksville, Mayfield Heights, Parma, and Strongsville because of poor experiences with properties he formerly owned in North Randall and Avon Lake.