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Village goes slow on Ivex rezoning
(by Barbara Christian - September 24, 2008)
Village goes slow on Ivex rezoning
By BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Former Chagrin Falls Mayor B. Richard Bodwell asked Village Council Monday to table new zoning uses for the former Ivex property in his Cleveland Street neighborhood.
A week earlier, he went before the village's planning and zoning commission with claims that the redevelopment plan would turn the neighborhood into a rowdy entertainment district. Mr. Bodwell said the mixed-use development would adversely impact the residential neighborhood.
Developers Spillway Partners -- Darren Wyville, Robert Darden and William Phillips -- have characterized the project as "family friendly."
The three men and several of their supporters attended Monday's council session. Mr. Wyville said he and his partners "know we have neighbors" and do not have any secrets about what they plan for the property. He said they are sensitive to noise and other issues and plan to engage the neighbors as the plans move forward.
"We are an open book," Mr. Wyville said, and the partners are researching and answering "any and all concerns the village may have."
Instead of tabling the ordinance, Council President Steven Patton said it would remain on the second of three readings until planners are ready with their recommendation. The ordinance will be taken off the agenda until then, he said.
The new ordinance sets square-footage limits on each of the uses that Spillway Partners have included in their plans. They have proposed a small hotel, brewery, restaurant, playground, movie theater and four retail shops.
Mr. Bodwell said that mix has him and his neighbors worried about light, odor, noise and safety issues, as well as nighttime operations.
The legislation outlining the new uses for the property now zoned limited industrial with residential overlay was scheduled for an Oct. 14 public hearing. That has been postponed until the planning and zoning commission meets Oct. 20 to review Mr. Bodwell's concerns and possibly modify the ordinance.
Councilman James Watterson, council's representative to the planning and zoning commission, assured Mr. Bodwell that the commission would not recommend changes or the public hearing without ample notification.
Law Director Stephen Byron told Mr. Bodwell that Mr. Patton, as council president, controls the agenda and can choose to table it or take it off the agenda. He explained that tabling legislation is used when a decision is "way down the road."
Mr. Patton said the public would receive notice for a public hearing. Council could act after the hearing or it could opt to continue the decision for a future meeting.
The multi-use legislation is designed so that any one of the uses cannot take over the entire property.
Mr. Watterson said that will guard against a future "big-box" redevelopment and limit the size of each the uses.
Any future owner would have to have at least three of the uses.
As it is written, the ordinance specifies the development be a minimum of three acres. The stores must sell art- and antique-oriented goods and not be more than 1,500 square feet each and not more than 7,000 square feet in total. Restaurants may have no more than 200 seats and not be more than 4,000 square feet. Outdoor seating is limited, and no-drive through service in permitted. The brewery is defined as manufacturing beer in a quantity not to exceed 5,000 barrels a year and contain no more than 12 percent alcohol.
The hotel is limited to 20 guest rooms, and the party center must be confined on premises with no more than 6,500 square feet. The theater is to be contained indoors with sound proofing and be limited to 5,000 square feet. Also permitted are museums and playgrounds of no more than 3,000 square feet.
Spillway Partners said their plans for redevelopment of the Ivex property follow guidelines set by the mayor's committee that was formed to recommend possible future uses of the Ivex paper-mill site along the Chagrin River.
The committee recommended that as many of the old buildings as possible remain intact as a historical reference to Chagrin Falls' past as a mill town. The partners plan to save 95 percent of the 20 or more original buildings, Mr. Darden said.
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