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price on an item, and go Home Depot and Home Depot will cut the price down 5% from what was
<br />quoted; regardless of what was it costs Home Depot or regardless if it is below their cost. That
<br />information was from Ben Casanareo. He stated that with the tactics like Home Depot uses, they would
<br />not attract more retailers, they would be putting our existing businesses out of business. There would be
<br />more vacancies than ever before, and there are too many right now. He also disagreed with Mr. Corsi's
<br />statement that the existing plazas cannot accommodate Home Depot. Again they did their homework
<br />and watched all the publications to see what might be of use to them. The Wall Street Journal, on April
<br />16, 1996 refers to aging of shopping malls and what is happening to them because of the competition
<br />that is coming in and what is being done about it. A good example is Severance Center, which is going
<br />through exactly the same thing and they are reconfiguring their aging shopping center by tearing down
<br />the old empty buildings that they have_ He noted that there are quite a number of empty spaces in Plaza
<br />North, and he was sure there were some in Plaza South and if Biskind Development is so anxious to put
<br />a Home Depot in North Olmsted why do tliey not reconfigure their shopping area and put a Home
<br />Depot in there. They did that with Best Products (Best Buy) in Plaza South and if that is not a"big
<br />box", he did not know what was. So if they.can do it there, they can do it in the other area. Mr. Corsi
<br />also said that Parcel "E" had become an inferior location for office development because Wal-Mart was
<br />constructed on the south side of Brookpark Road and usually o$'ice and retail do not mix. Mr. Skoulis
<br />noted that Wal-Mart and Corporate Center are side by side, and as far as he knows they are doing well.
<br />As a matter of fact, under new ownership now, not Biskind's ownership, they are doing very well.
<br />Corporate Center I and II, which were almost in receivership, were losing money under Biskind
<br />Management, are now makiug money under Duke Realty's management. Mr. Skoulis continued stating
<br />Mr. Wentzel, of D.KS. Traffic Construction had claimed that even with an annual 3% growth rate,
<br />plus another 6% added for other growth, and adding traffic from Parcel "E", there would be a
<br />maintenance or even an improvement of the current levels of service. He thought that what was meant
<br />by that was that not that there would be any growth in traffic in that area, but the trafl'ic would be able
<br />to flow as smoothly as it is flowing now. Mr. Skoulis stated that Mr. Wentzel does not live here and
<br />does not know what the real situation is. He would like to start with what the situation really is and
<br />build on from that. He presented some statistics from a report of the Cuyahoga County Planning
<br />Commission on accidents rates in 1994 which listed several cities. North Olmsted had the highest
<br />accident rates in the county, not only from the nu.mber of accidents, but on a per capita basis. North
<br />Olmsted has 34,000 plus people, in 1994 there were 995 accidents, which is one accident for every 35th
<br />man, woman, and child in the city; the only city that had a lower figure tb.an 35 was the city of
<br />Cleveland with 21,324 accidents which is a rate of one accident for every 24 people living in Cleveland.
<br />Other communities were as follows: Lakewood, one accident for every 59 people, Parma had one for
<br />every 82 people, and Stiongsville one for every 39th person. Out of the 995 accidents in 1994, 738 of
<br />them were in the vicinity of the business district, that is 74% of all the accidents, and only 257 occurred
<br />in the entire remaining area of North Olmsted. Parcel "E" is right in the middle of the business district, it
<br />is surrounded on three sides by some of the most heavily traveled streets, not only in North Olmsted,
<br />but in the county. Some of the intersections in this area have some. of the highest accidents rates in the
<br />entire county. He presented some comparisons presented by Guyahoga County Planning of the situation
<br />ofthese intersections, before Wal-Mart (1988) and after Wal-Mart (1995). The intersection at 1480 and
<br />Great Northern Boulevard in 1988 had 47 accidents, in 1995 it had 63 accidents, a 15% increase. At
<br />Columbia and Brookpark, 14 accidents in 1988 and 22 in 1995, a 57% increase. Columbia and Lorain
<br />Roads, 41 in 1988 and 51 in 1995, a 64.5% increase. Great Northern Boulevard and Brookpark, 33 in
<br />1988 and 36 in 1995, a 10% increase.. Great Northern Boulevard and Lorain, 10 in 1988 and 22 in
<br />,1995, a 120% increase. Overall there was a 51% increase in traffic accidents at the intersection in the
<br />business area around Parcel "E", a 51% increase since Wal-Mart has been in business. He. stated that
<br />there are more figures, but he will not go into them. He pointed out that this is a heavily impacted area,
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