.P `C `
<br />approved based on the commitments that.were agreed upon. Residents were tolcl that, if they were
<br />selling a home abutting Parcel "E", the prospective buyer.should be told how the land was zoned and a
<br />copy of the verbatim minutes were to be giyen to them...Buyers have told them, that i:f the land behind _
<br />. ? tliem had beeu ?etail.,.they -wo?ild : go?,hay.e. ?bouglit?xhere.: '?ieir.?resadents do ?not yuaiit .retail;- they. ?vant :• :.
<br />. what was promised Iliem: the higlier liuildings were Io be along Bronkpark Road, and the buildings to the rear of the residents would be one story. He believed that the video-was not a true representation,
<br />since it showed one large office bu.ilding 4 stories high, which is not what it was to look like. With these
<br />plans they would be looking at a solid blank wall with no windows and no design. He noted that they
<br />were talking about screening after 15 years of growth, and questioned what this would look like at first.
<br />` He also wondered what it would look like from the `other side of Brookpark Raad, because, these were
<br />massive concrete block buildings. He believed that office buildings would be far more attractive, and
<br />they would have some input on the design, color, and materials. After the rezoning (when he was on
<br />planning commission) a master plan was developed by the plauuing commission who hired the
<br />- Cuyahoga County Planning Commission for their expertise. He has compared North Olmsted's Master
<br />Plan with others in the area, and believed it was the best one around. During the compiling of the plan,
<br />the planuing commission reviewed every of undeveloped parcels of land, and tried to come up with
<br />future zoning of that land, and this was one of the first parcels to be studied. The recomnaendation for
<br />this land was to not re-zone it from its present zoning, and the best alternative use was for Mixed Use,
<br />office buildings or multiple dwelling units: that could be town houses, cluster homes, apartments, etc.
<br />But the recommendation of Cuyahoga County Plauuing Commission and North Olmsted Planning
<br />Commission was that this properiy not be rezoned again. He asked that they stick with their plan. He
<br />repeated that the residents were put under pressure to rezone, arid after 7 months of ineetings, the land
<br />was rezoned with certain agreements which gave the property owner a reasonable use of his land, they
<br />are not denying them anything. The home owners' main argument against rezoning is traffic, but the
<br />traffic consultant talked so fast he could not follow him. The figures he gave meant very,little to the
<br />residents and they do not show the true picture of what they have in the area. He maintained that the
<br />- stretch of Columbia Road is one of the worst in the area, with the exception of the one at I-480 and
<br />Great Northem Boulevard where there have been many accidents and some deaths. He asked if this
<br />traffic came from the residents or did it come from the traffic generated by commercial development. He
<br />stated that the northbound traffic on Columbia Road from Brookpark Road to Lorain Road was
<br />sometimes backed up around the comer to Grace Avenue, and the comer of Lorain and Columbia is
<br />almost as bad, and one of the business owners stated that there were one or two accidents a month, and
<br />there have been many with serious injuries. Two of their residents were seriously injured at Brookpark .
<br />and Columbia Road-were seriously injured. He quoted one of the experts who said that "traffic is a way
<br />of life", and maintained that the residents did not have to accept that, they can turn down the rezoning.
<br />He further stated that once the land was rezoned, they would have little or no control over what was
<br />being put on the land, providing it complied to the ordinances. He read chapter 1139.01(b) which listed
<br />the uses, some of which were: gas stations, car washes, bowling alleys, auto supply stores, businesses
<br />that sell food and liquor, mortuaries, crematoriums, funeral homes, research and testing labs, radio and
<br />television stations, telephone exchanges, transformer stations, hotels, and motels. He maintained that,
<br />regardless of what the developer,said, if the circumstances were such, the developer would put in
<br />whatever he had to. If this rezoning is turned down, they have looked in to what might happen if the
<br />developers went to the courts, and they have leamed that the courts have consistently voted in favor of
<br />muuicipalities, especially since the property owner has been given reasonable use of his land, which was'
<br />done when it was rezoned for office. He maintained that this has been true in the State and Federal
<br />Courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. The fact that the developer cau make greater profit from .
<br />rezoning his land ineans nothing, as long as he is given, reasonable use of his land, so the city has
<br />nothing to fear from a law suit by the developer. He asked if the city really needed more land rezoned
<br />9
|