Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

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.