10/28/2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Koeth voiced that he had visited Eaton and Polaris in Columbus, which is similar and should be looked at for statistics. 1VIrs. Hoff-Smith suggested having the safety forces look at the plans and submit a report. Resadents comments: Mr. Skoulis the president of the homeowners association came forward to represent the neighboring residents. Mr. Skoulis reviewed that the association met in June with the applicant to review their proposal. The Planning Commission members acknowledged that they received a letter regarding the June meeting Mr. Skoulis submitted. The homeowners at the time liked the way the proposal looked and after 15-years it needs to be put to rest. Many concerns the residents have can be worked out. Mr. Berryhill has assured the residents that he would be willing to meet with the association again to work issues out. Although a third floor has been added to two of the buildings, they will be residential use, which is good. They are concerned that the parking garage is used to calculate the residential ratio. Mr. Berryhill suggested that a garage is a permissible use under the residential code therefore it is counted as residential use. Mr. Rymarczyk confirmed that the underground parking garage calculations is a permitted use. Mr. Skoulis reviewed that there are major variances required such as having a big-box store on the site. He again commented that the residents are not entirely happy about everything but feel that the applicants are willing to work with the residents. He questioned if there would be mounding along Brookpark Road to buffer the south side residents. The lighting in the parking lots should not bleed over onto residential land. They would like Planning Commission to pay close attention to the type of lights used on the site. He questioned who the upscale tenants are that will be in the development. The residents do not want lower scale retail or low-end apartments on the site. He questioned if the developer could be made to put in writing what he has promised at all the meetings he has attended. Mr. O'IVlalley suggested that he was not in a position to provide legal answers for that question at this stage of the proceedings. Mr. Skoulis commented that at the June meeting with Mr. Berryhill, Mr. Berryhill assured him that he would put in writing what is being promised. 1VIr. Berryhill indicated that they have proposed tenants. Mr. Skoulis voiced that the current plans are quite different from what they saw in June and they are concerned that the plans keep changing. He questioned what the renting price of the apartments would be. Mrs. Diver an abutting neighbor suggested that in the meetings with Mr. Smerigan the professional planner he voiced that neither sides could be happy with the outcome of the zoning of the lot as it is a transition area. It was her understanding that no individual building footprint on this site could be larger than 75,00 to 82,000 square feet. The Target building alone is over 123,000 square feet. Target has refused to break the building into two separate units and yet at University Heights they have a store, which has been designed differently from their standard stores so, they could work with North Olmsted to fit our needs. The zoning code that was rewritten less than a year ago should be upheld. If the code is not followed how do you, expect any further codes to be upheld in the future. She questioned if the apartments do not work on the site would the applicant be allowed to convert the space to retail to recoup his loses. She has visited other malls and there are nice buffering mounds and brick curved walls so those types of buffers should be required here if it is going to be upscale as they say. Mr. Poffenberger a neighbor from Mitchell voiced his concerns for the walkways crossing the main entrance to the site as the speed limit along Brookpark Road is 45-miles an hour. At that speed, the incoming cars are not going to have enough time to stop for the pedestrians. He would also like to see sidewalks placed from Mitchell Drive along Columbia Road around Brookpark Road to the site so they could walk to the site. He suggested moving building "B" to make more room for the maneuverability at the main entrance. All three entrances are big safety issues for cars as well as pedestrians. Ms. Kessler from Mitchell indicated that she would like to see something done with the north east corner of the site. The current plans do not show any landscaping or mounds and the lots are bare so there would be no buffering for the homes in that area. She would like to see the north east corner addressed. 6