Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Fairview Park officials unveiled the 2013 master plan update prepared for the City by City Architecture. The plan recommends establishing a marketing program, creating a signage package, and highlighting key intersections with special crosswalks and paving.

Fairview Park's master plan committee and City officials are working with City Architecture to update the City's master plan. Preliminary recommendations include signage and streetscape improvements.

O'Neill Management is planning a $20 million redevelopment of the former Garnett School site in Fairview Park. The proposed Garnett Health Campus would be larger than 100,000 square feet, with 118 nursing home beds and 38 assisted living suites. The company intends to seek a seven-year tax abatement for the project. Some residents expressed concerns about the development.

Cuyahoga County residential development projects in the media:

• Local developers plan to convert a cluster of buildings at West 25th Street and Church Avenue in Ohio City to the West 25th Street Lofts, 70 market-rate apartments. They hope to begin construction in March.
• The mixed-use Intesa project in University Circle could include 80 micro-apartments, small units between 300 and 600 square feet.
• Cleveland Heights City Council unanimously approved a development agreement for a planned $11.4 million mixed-use project on the vacant city-owned property at Lee Road and Meadowbrook Boulevard. The four-story, 17,000-square-foot building will include ground-level retail below 77 apartments. The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board approved an 11-year, 80% tax abatement for the development.
• The Cleveland Metroparks commissioners authorized development in a portion of the easement that the park system holds on the Mandley-Vetrovsky Funeral Home property in Fairview Park. The agreement enables Abode Living to proceed with plans for a townhouse project.
• As an alternative to a proposed 11-house subdivision, 12 acres of wetlands along Bishop Road in Highland Heights may be preserved as open space.
• Abode Living is considering plans for a second phase of its Clifton Pointe townhouses in Lakewood.
• The Zaremba Group dropped its plans for an apartment complex on the former Locust Grove golf course site at Cedar and Lander roads in Mayfield Heights.
• A proposed apartment building in Rocky River is attracting interest from seniors.
• A proposed cluster home development would add single-family houses at Center Ridge and Crocker roads in Westlake.

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.

Local residential projects in the news:

• Developers of the planned Commerce Park Apartments at Chagrin Boulevard and Green Road are seeking final approval of their plans from Beachwood officials.
• The K&D Group is proceeding with its plans to convert the Hanna Building to 102 apartments. Funding for the downtown Cleveland project includes a $7 million federal New Markets Tax Credit allocation.
• A ribbon-cutting celebration was held for the first phase of the mixed-use Uptown development in University Circle.
• Construction of the Waverly Station townhouses is underway on Bridge Avenue in Cleveland's Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. Six of its 22 units were sold prior to groundbreaking. Case Development is offering a $5,000 credit to purchasers who agree to volunteer in the neighborhood.
• The City of Cleveland Heights and developer the Orlean Company continue to develop plans for a mixed-use building at the intersection of Meadowbrook and Lee roads in the Cedar-Lee district.
• Developer Andrew Brickman of Abode Living proposed building luxury townhouses on the site of Mandley-Vetrovsky Funeral Home in Fairview Park. The Cleveland Metroparks hold an easement on a portion of the property.
• The Zaremba Group wants to build a 336-unit apartment project on the site of the former Locust Grove golf course at the intersection of Cedar and Lander roads in Mayfield Heights. An earlier residential development on the 14-acre site was abandoned in 2005.
• Solon residents have concerns about the proposed 13-house Neptune Oval Estates subdivision and its potential impact on flooding issues in the area. The project needs a permit from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to proceed.
• The Liberty Court development in South Euclid has been completed. It had been placed on hold in 2008.

Voters in Solon could see two zoning issues on the November ballot. One would modify permitted uses in the city's C-5 industrial district, while the other would allow pet stores in the city's C-2 commercial district. Voters in Fairview Park may decide a rezoning issue for Journey Church on Lorain Road.

Update: Westlake voters may decide a rezoning issue for a portion of the Promenade shopping center.

Fairview Park officials selected City Architecture to prepare an update of the City's master plan.

The City of Fairview Park is preparing to embark on an update of its master plan. Seven consultants submitted bids to conduct the plan, which was last updated in 2005 (PDF). West Life is publishing a series on issues that may be addressed in a new master plan.

Fairview Park City Council is considering legislation that would repeal a requirement to obtain input from a professional planner in rezoning decisions.

Voters in Fairview Park approved the rezoning of the former Garnett School property from low-rise planned development to general business. O'Neill Management plans to build a skilled nursing and assisted living facility on the site. It was the only rezoning issue on Tuesday's ballot in Cuyahoga County.

The Fairview Park Planning and Design Commission recommended rezoning the former Garnett Elementary School property for a proposed skilled nursing and assisted living complex. City Council may place the rezoning on the May ballot.

Fairview Park residents may vote in May on a proposed rezoning of the Garnett School site on Lorain Road. The City is acquiring the 4.77-acre property from the School District, and an unidentified developer wants to build a skilled nursing and assisted living facility on the property.

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.

The Chagrin Solon Sun urges Moreland Hills residents to approve Issue 88, which would establish an open space conservation zoning classification. It also asks Solon voters to reject Issue 129, a proposal to rezone a property from single-family to two-family residential. The Sun Post-Herald encourages Fairview Park voters to pass Issues 54 and 55, which it describes as "housekeeping items that will correct a zoning oversight".

Residents in Fairview Park will decide two commercial to residential rezoning issues in November, similar to the one they approved in May.

Election recap

Fairview Park
Issue 29 (residential rezoning): passed

Solon
Issue 44 (industrial rezoning): passed

Strongsville
Issue 46 (retail rezoning): uncertain; apparently failed

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

Fairview Park City Council is considering a proposal to double the size of Nelson Russ Park by purchasing 2.3 acres from three property owners for $64,000. The purchase may be approved at the next City Council meeting on June 15.

The City of Fairview Park is nearing its planned purchase of the Country Inn Motel on Lorain Road. The Cuyahoga County Department of Development is providing a loan that will enable the City to redevelop the site.

Fairview Park officials are developing a strategy to address the elevated number of retail vacancies along Lorain Road.

The City of Fairview Park reached an agreement with the owner of the Cleveland Motel. The owner will demolish the Lorain Road building, and the City of Fairview Park will purchase the site for $120,000. The City also bought the Country Inn Motel last fall. Both were acquired for future redevelopment.

Update: Fairview Park City Council approved the agreement.

The City of Fairview Park may create a housing council. It would serve as the "line of first response" for rental issues in the City.

The City of Fairview Park may purchase the Country Inn Motel on Lorain Road. Plans call for making the property attractive to developers by demolishing the building and preparing the site for redevelopment.

The final anchor store in the redeveloped Westgate shopping center opened late last month. Developers, retailers, and municipal officials in Fairview Park and Rocky River are all pleased with the project.

The Sun Herald looks at the successful conclusion of the Gemini Project in Fairview Park.

Channel 8 reports that the Westgate redevelopment in Fairview Park and Rocky River is nearly complete.

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.

Fairview Park voters will decide two zoning issues next month. Issue 32 would rezone a 3.5 acre parcel on Mastick Road from single-family residential to an office building classification, and Issue 31 would rezone two properties on Lorain Road owned by Fairview Grace United Methodist Church from general business to civic and recreational.

Cities such as Cleveland, Westlake, Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted, and Avon Lake are still dealing with the withdrawal of Tops Supermarkets from Northeast Ohio in 2006.

The Gemini Center, Fairview Park's new recreation center, will officially open this weekend. Celebrations will be held on Saturday, and the facility will open to members on Sunday. Its construction was part of the Gemini Project.

A rezoning issue for a 3.5 acre undeveloped property on Mastick Road may appear on the March ballot in Fairview Park. If City Council approves the measure, residents will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed residential to office rezoning.

Work is continuing on Fairview Park's Gemini Project, and with the opening of the new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School, preparations are underway for the demolition of Garnett and Coffinberry schools. Once the buildings are demolished, the properties will be sold for redevelopment.

NASA has approved the $150 million redesign of the NASA Glenn Research Center. The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority will be the master developer overseeing the 20-year program that will transform the facility.

NASA Glenn Research Center and the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority reached a memorandum of understanding for the development of a land use plan for the 350 acre NASA campus.

Plans for the proposed 12 unit condominium project on Lorain Road are scheduled to go before the Fairview Park Board of Zoning Appeals next month. The site of the planned Residences of Chanticleer development is currently occupied by a single-family house.

Channel 3 took a look at the redevelopment of the Westgate shopping center in Fairview Park.

The new Target store at the Westgate shopping center opened yesterday, and the Jacobs Group announced ten new tenants for the redeveloped 600,000 square foot center.

Developers are preparing plans for a 12 unit condominium building on Lorain Road in Fairview Park. They will ask the City for a seven year, 100% tax abatement.

Construction of Fairview Park's Gemini Project is on time and under budget, and both the new Gilles-Sweet school and the new recreation center should be completed this year.

Earlier this month, officials at NASA Glenn Research Center submitted a master plan that involves consolidating its central campus, growing its western campus, and increasing visibility and access to its northern campus. NASA leadership is expected to make a decision on the plan by this summer.

Today's Plain Dealer provides additional details about the new master plan for NASA Glenn Research Center. If approved by NASA, work could begin in 2009 and continue for 20 years.

Reactions to recommendations for the Lorain Road corridor in Fairview Park continue to be positive. The suggestions were developed for the Western Lorain Road Corridor Planning Study.

NASA unveiled a new master plan for Glenn Research Center. It calls for new office buildings, an auditorium and conference area, a public outreach district, and "a campus center that would function as downtown Glenn." The public outreach area, which will feature a new Aerospace Education Center, will be built on the site of the Center's two buildings in Fairview Park.

Construction of the new Westgate shopping complex is slightly ahead of schedule, and more retailers have agreed to leases in the development. The center's Target anchor will open on July 27, and Lowe's is scheduled to open in November.

Fairview Park business owners were receptive to a consultant's recommendations for the Western Lorain Road Corridor Planning Study that were presented at a public meeting last week.

Consultants working on the Western Lorain Road Corridor Planning Study in Fairview Park say the street has a diverse mix of uses and recommend making it more pedestrian friendly.

Fairview Park officials and consultants will gather public input for the Western Lorain Road Corridor Planning Study at a meeting on January 24 at 7:00 p.m. in City Hall. The Study will include recommendations for streetscape improvements, and should be completed by May.