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Desired outcomes from this overlay district are to facilitate the evolution in place of the mall,
<br />provide for new street grids and connectivity, incorporate zoning for residential uses, increasing
<br />the green space, reducing traffic, or I'm sorry, reducing parking, and then facilitating more of a
<br />transit -oriented design for our mall, and that's all I have, Mr. President.
<br />Council President Brossard:
<br />Thank you. If there is anyone in the audience who would like to address Council on Ordinance
<br />2025-21 only, please come to the podium, state your name, and complete address for the
<br />Clerk. If you live in a city other than North Olmsted, please state the name of that city and
<br />proceed with your comments. You will have up to five minutes.
<br />Mr. Jim Burns:
<br />My name is Jim Burns, 3978 Dover Center Road.
<br />This idea, this overlay approach to making changes to the mall area, which also includes a
<br />shopping center, by the way; its intent is a good idea. I mean, it and it can be done, I think, in
<br />ways that will make the city look better and be more inviting.
<br />However, section 1150.02A, item one, a newly constructed building or newly, all newly
<br />constructed buildings in the MAGMU overlay district shall meet the requirements of this
<br />chapter. I have no problem with that because that's the purpose of this overlay, is to make the
<br />changes from the one to the other. Two, additions or expansions of existing buildings of 3,000
<br />square feet or greater shall meet the requirements of this chapter; that is extremely limiting.
<br />Any change in the principal use, shall enact the requirements of this chapter; also extremely
<br />limiting. You have four big box buildings, which the mall doesn't own, which might, because
<br />nobody wants to put money into it because they'd have to tear it down and replace it, is just
<br />going to sit there, and maybe end up something like Midway Mall. The mall itself, I know the
<br />understanding is that malls are dying, but malls, the mall itself basically is a covered shopping
<br />center, which allows people to walk from store to store without getting rained on, snowed on,
<br />or 95 -degree sun shining on them. So I think what we need to look at here, is some sort of
<br />flexibility being put into this thing that allows over time, for the changes to be made, but for,
<br />like for the Sears building, who knows what's going to go in there. And if this thing passes and
<br />somebody wants to change the use of the Sears building, they can't because they'll have to tear
<br />it down. So what we're looking at is just, what you should look at is maybe in some flexibility
<br />into this thing that allows change over time. None of this is going to happen overnight, and
<br />there's a lot of parking lot out there that can be redeveloped as it is now and meet what this
<br />code wants to do.
<br />But these big buildings like this, and you might end up with something like Midway Mall, which I
<br />believe the City of Avon eventually had to buy and tear down. So we don't want anything like
<br />that. So we need to have a little bit of more flexibility and not so rigid.
<br />04-01-25 Public Hearing Minutes - Page 2
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