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first master plan but when it got down to developing the master plan, it wasn't utilized. He said <br />people looked at certain areas of the city where maybe they had a"not in my backyard" type of <br />interest and that is how that thing came around and was developed. He said there is a screaming need <br />to look at the master plan that is currently in place. The board needs to look at what was previously <br />discussed and address some of those issues. There were conflicts on the property that came through <br />on Columbia Road between Brookpark and the freeway, where they wanted to put in cluster housing. <br />If you look at the master plan it was unclear or ambiguous or contradictory to what they wanted to go <br />in there. That is an area the board should look at. If nothing else happens, it would be great to get <br />that thing cleaned up. He agrees with focusing on Crocker-Stearns. He said if they want to look at <br />being more pedestrian friendly, they should start with elderly housing. If we do not have a <br />coordinated effort we can end up with elderly housing spread all over town. We need to look at a <br />comprehensive plan for the city, and for beyond Stearns so there won't be an alienated area. The city <br />needs to be able to tell a developer what our focus is and where we want them to build. He <br />mentioned Mr. Khouri's plan to build a development on Lorain. 1VIrs. O'Rourke inquired about the <br />outcome of that plan. 1VIr. Conway said the father died and no one had enough money to go ahead <br />with the project. There was further discussion about the plan. Mr. Conway said the plan was to be a <br />pretty comprehensive elderly housing development that would have been a great basis to start up. <br />Mr. O'Malley said Mr. Conway seems to be saying a master plan is great but without zoning <br />changes to follow it up and unless it is implemented, it is not going anywhere. Mr. Conway said that <br />is correct and suggested doing some overlay zoning that shows what the city is going for. To pass an <br />elderly housing section of the zoning code and then not have any property in town zoned for elderly <br />housing does not make any sense. He suggested that the board form a subcoinmittee with a <br />representative from the Architectural Review Board and from Council. If you get Council involved <br />in the first place, you have soineone reporting back to Council and at least you are keeping them <br />abreast and you get some feedback. Mrs. Hoff-Smith questioned why the charter dictates when the <br />board must report back to Council but does not dictate when they must act on it. Mr. Conway <br />pointed out that Council does not have to adopt it. Mr. O'Malley disagreed and said it is his <br />understanding that Council has adopted it. He believes the charter requires them to take it and act on <br />it. He mentioned that the regional planner said that they should have other people involved in the <br />process so it is their plan and not just the Planning Commission plan. Mr. Spalding indicated they <br />invited Council to attend their meetings the last time and they got one member. Mr. Conway said <br />they need to do more than invite Council to meetings. They need to ask Council to appoint a <br />representative to the committee. Mr. O'Malley said he thinks Landmarks would be willing to send a <br />representative as well. Mrs. O'Rourke agreed. Mrs. Hoff-Smith suggested having the <br />commissions as a whole create the master plan. 1VIrs. O'Rourke commented that often times things <br />have gone from Planning that were not approved and moved on to Architectural Review Board or <br />Board of Zoning Appeals and they get approved and it's done. Mr. Conway said the board needs to <br />get to its function, and that is planning. The board is taking a parcel that has already been planned <br />and doing a development on it. That may be a little beyond the board's expertise. He suggested <br />turning that over to the architects and others. The Planning Cominission should set the guidelines <br />and let others determine how the buildings will look and how traffic will be routed around a site. The <br />Planning Cominission should get to the areas that need to be looked at for long range planning. The <br />city is at a crossroads in his opinion and it could be something pretty fantastic if we go about it right <br />and take these areas that are going to be hot spots and do some long range planning. Hiring a planner <br />is an excellent idea. He said the regional planning commission is a great source of information but <br />it's important to remember they have an agenda. They like to see inner-city growth. They talked <br />about running a rapid transit up the middle of Brookpark Road. It may be a great idea, and it may be <br />something the Planning Commission may want to look at but any time you deal with a group like <br />that, you have to know what their agenda is. Maybe hiring a planner of our own, someone who is <br />going to take North Olmsted's interests to heart may be a better route to go. Mr. Spalding said the <br />3