Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Broadview Heights City Council is considering an ordinance that would establish a special planning district for the proposed town center at the intersection of Broadview and Royalton roads. The district's zone A is a 100-acre mixed-use area around the intersection, and zone B is a 200-acre office/multi-family area surrounding zone A. City Council also recently approved the purchase of a 1.24-acre site in the special planning district for a planned park. A separate ordinance would create zone C, a corridor that would connect the town center area with the area around the Giant Eagle store.

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.

Broadview Heights City Council approved a $279,706 contract with URS Corp. for design services for the I-77 interchange project at Route 82. Construction of the proposed interchange is expected to cost around $2.4 million.

Broadview Heights residents will vote on a charter amendment that would prohibit new natural gas and oil wells in the City. City Council unanimously voted to put the issue on the ballot against the advice of the City's law director, who said it would be be unenforceable if adopted due to a 2004 state law that eliminated local controls. A group called Mothers Against Drilling In Our Neighborhoods is urging residents to approve the issue, which will appear on the November ballot as Issue 29. Other Ohio communities are also seeking ways to reclaim local control over drilling. Stakeholders discussed the issues on a recent Sound of Ideas show.

Mayor Alai of Broadview Heights said that he is committed to implementing the City's 2010 Town Center Master Plan. The Broadview Heights Planning Commission is studying zoning code changes that would permit mixed-use development.

Natural gas drilling continues to be a source of conflict and tension in places like Broadview Heights. Nearly 400 wells have been drilled in Cuyahoga County since Ohio eliminated local controls in 2004.

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

After incorporating input from Broadview Heights residents, the Elsa Drive Wetland Restoration and Protection Project (PDF) now calls for expanding the existing 1.9-acre wetland to 3.15 acres.

The Broadview Heights Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals approved plans for a new Giant Eagle supermarket on Route 82. The proposal had been tabled earlier this month. The Board of Zoning Appeals granted six zoning variances for the development.

The Bellaire-Puritas Development Corporation is conducting riparian restoration at two sites along Big Creek's Chevy Branch. In Broadview Heights, the City will hold a public meeting on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming Elsa Drive Wetland Restoration and Protection Project.

Update: the Sun Star Courier summarized the meeting in Broadview Heights.

Following voter approval of a zoning change for a proposed Giant Eagle store, officials in Broadview Heights have begun reviewing plans for the supermarket. It is expected to be 84,000 square feet and will include a gas station.

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.

Giant Eagle revealed that it is the previously-unidentified company that has proposed building a supermarket in Broadview Heights. Voters will decide a rezoning issue for the property on November 2.

Voters in Broadview Heights will decide a proposed retail rezoning for three parcels on Royalton Road. An undisclosed developer is interested in building a supermarket there. An earlier rezoning issue for the area was approved by voters in November 2008.

On Monday, Broadview Heights City Council is scheduled to vote on whether to approve the recently-completed Broadview Heights Town Center Master Plan (PDF).

The proposed redesign of the I-77 interchange at Route 82 in Broadview Heights continues to move through federal and state review processes.

Consultants G2M Design Collaborative recently completed work on the Broadview Heights Master Plan. They will present the plan to City Council.

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.

A real estate consultant told Broadview Heights officials that the area around Route 82 and Broadview Road should be developed as a community-scale retail center.

G2M Design Collaborative is continuing to develop a new master plan for the City of 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.

A Broadview Heights committee intends to have the city's new master plan completed by April.

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 transportation engineers working on a proposal to redesign the I-77 interchange at Route 82 in Broadview Heights may modify their plans.

At a public meeting yesterday, consultants from TranSystem discussed the proposed redesign of the I-77 interchange at Route 82 in Broadview Heights.

The City of Broadview Heights is preparing to hire G2M Design Collaborative of Avon to conduct a master land use study (PDF).

Election recap

Broadview Heights
Issue 12 (commercial rezoning): passed

Cleveland
Issue 17 (Planning Commission alternates): passed

Solon
Issue 83 (retail rezoning): passed

The proposed Olmsted Falls-Olmsted Township Merger Study Commission passed in Olmsted Falls (Issue 58), but failed in Olmsted Township (Issue 103).

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

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.

TranSystems Corp. developed preliminary plans for a redesign of the I-77 interchange at Route 82 in Broadview Heights. City officials are trying to gather support for the plans.

Cuyahoga County's $420 million wish list for federal stimulus dollars includes gray and green infrastructure projects, green energy initiatives, and social service programs. The State of Ohio is accepting suggestions for stimulus projects at a special website.

Update: this week's Sun Newspapers have more details about the requests made by Euclid and Broadview Heights leaders.

Broadview Heights officials are seeking CDBG funds to pay for a new municipal master plan.

This week's Sun papers have more information about the recent ballot issues in Broadview Heights, Chagrin Falls, Highland Heights, South Euclid, Avon, and Twinsburg.

In addition to the eight rezoning issues on the ballot in Broadview Heights, voters will decide Issues 17-19, proposed charter revisions that involve the Board of Zoning Appeals.

This week's Sun Courier summarizes the eight rezoning issues (Issues 15, 16, 20-25) on the ballot in Broadview Heights.

Voters in Broadview Heights will see eight rezoning issues on the November ballot, and City officials have begun researching other possible future changes.

Broadview Heights voters may see additional rezoning issues on the November ballot. The Jacobs Group wants to rezone five parcels along Route 82 from office laboratory to general retail.

Leaders of a youth football program are interested in building a fieldhouse on a ten acre site in south or southwest Cuyahoga County. The group has met with officials in Broadview Heights and North Royalton to discuss a possible joint venture.

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

Owners of properties near the I-77 interchange at Route 82 had mixed reactions to Mayor Alai's proposal for rezoning the area. Broadview Heights voters will have the opportunity to vote on two rezoning issues in November.

Two rezoning requests are making their way through the approval process in Broadview Heights. Both properties are near the I-77 interchange at Route 82, and would be rezoned to general commercial, which would permit retail development.

Election recap

Broadview Heights
Issue 16 (residential rezoning): passed

Brooklyn Heights
Issues 17-25 (liquor law): passed

Fairview Park
Issue 31 (church rezoning): passed
Issue 32 (office rezoning): passed

Seven Hills
Issue 43 (Rockside Road rezoning): passed

Solon
Issue 44 (senior housing rezoning): failed

Strongsville
Issue 46 (Cook Avenue rezoning): passed

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

Voters in Broadview Heights will decide a rezoning issue on Tuesday. The owners of three properties on Cherry Hill Lane want a portion of their properties rezoned from office to single-family residential.

The City of Broadview Heights will start billing businesses and residents for stormwater improvements next month.

Commercial to residential rezoning issues for portions of three properties on Cherry Hill Lane will appear on the March ballot in Broadview Heights.

Developers of the Ahek and LaPine properties at I-77 and Route 82 hope to have a development proposal ready early next year. The 40 acre site was recently rezoned by Broadview Heights voters.

Broadview Heights City Council rejected a $69,000 TLCI grant for planning a greenway connector trail along Chippewa Creek. It's the first time a city has refused a TLCI grant.

By a vote of 6-1, the Broadview Heights Board of Zoning Appeals approved a zoning variance that will permit developer Sam Petros to increase the size of anchor stores for his proposed retail development at Broadview and Royalton Roads.

Developer Sam Petros is seeking a zoning variance from the Broadview Heights Board of Zoning Appeals that would allow him to increase the size anchor stores at his proposed retail development at Broadview and Royalton Roads. The maximum size store permitted in the code is 60,000 square feet, and he wants to build stores of 134,000 and 85,000 square feet.

Now that Broadview Heights enacted fees to fund stormwater projects, City officials will begin to prioritize the projects.

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.

The City of Broadview Heights was awarded a $69,000 TLCI grant to conduct a feasibility study on the creation of a greenway connector trail between The Fields and the Cleveland Metroparks Brecksville Reservation.

Broadview Heights City Council's Stormwater Committee is preparing for a public hearing on proposed fees to fund stormwater projects. It will be held on August 30 at 7:00 p.m. in Broadview Heights City Hall.

In Shaker Heights, City Council unanimously approved the construction of the Shaker Boulevard median trail. Work is scheduled to begin next month. In Broadview Heights, crews have nearly finished building a multipurpose trail along Broadview Road. The City will seek a grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to extend the trail to the south.

Broadview Heights City Council will not vote on the proposed stormwater funding fee until August 13 at the earliest.

The Stormwater Committee of Broadview Heights City Council recommended charging residents and businesses a monthly fee to fund stormwater projects. The full council is currently discussing the proposal.

By a vote of 7-1, Broadview Heights City Council reversed its earlier decision and placed a rezoning issue for the Ahek property on the November ballot. If approved by voters, 60% of the 57.5 acre site at the northwest corner of I-77 and Route 82 would be rezoned from office laboratory to retail.

The City of Seven Hills approved spending $75,000 and opening bids for the construction of a mile-long multipurpose trail that will eventually link to the West Creek Greenway. Construction of the $800,000 trail should be completed this summer. Meanwhile, Broadview Heights officials are applying for grants that would permit them to examine the feasibility of building trails.

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 Sun Courier offers more information about the Broadview Heights retail development proposed by Sam Petros for the southwest corner of state Route 82 and Broadview Road. Plans for a 125,000-145,000 square foot department store would require a zoning variance from the City's 60,000 square foot size cap.

Developer Sam Petros wants to construct retail on 15 acres at the southwest corner of Route 82 and Broadview Road in Broadview Heights. He hopes to attract a department store, a drugstore, and a national restaurant chain as anchors.

In response to a resident's request, the City of Broadview Heights asked state officials to impose a moratorium on oil and gas wells in heavily populated residential areas.

Broadview Heights City Council hired a company to design two stormwater projects and study another. The work should be completed by July 1, and City Council hopes to have a funding mechanism in place by then.

The Broadview Heights City Council Stormwater Committee met for the first time last week. They hope to craft a plan for funding stormwater improvements in the City that does not involve the previously rejected assessments.

While Broadview Heights City Council struggles to find a funding mechanism for stormwater projects, Valley View intends to join the Tinkers Creek Watershed Partners consortium and participate with other cities in a watershed-wide approach to flooding problems.

By a vote of 4-5, Broadview Heights City Council rejected a proposal for assessing residents to fund stormwater projects. Some favor creating a stormwater utility, which they say would be fairer to residents and help pay for future projects.

(Update: the Sun Courier offers more information.)

Broadview Heights City Council turned down a proposed settlement that would have put a rezoning issue for a 49.5 acre site at the northwest corner of I-77 and Route 82 on the May ballot. The property is currently zoned for offices, but property owners want to build big box retail on the site. The case is scheduled to go to trial on June 18.

As part of their efforts to address stormwater issues, Broadview Heights City Council is discussing a proposal to evenly split the costs of storm sewer repairs with affected property owners.

As part of their stormwater management program, the City of Broadview Heights will begin requiring inspections of retention basins to make sure they are working properly.