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Planners get use modification in Solon Commons
(by Sue Reid - October 05, 2011)
Planners get use modification in Solon Commons
By SUE REID
Solon City Council approved a motion Monday to refer to the city's planning commission a request from the Davis Development Group to modify permitted uses in the area of the Solon Commons and to place it on the ballot at the earliest scheduled regular election.
The area in question, which primarily runs along Enterprise Parkway, is zoned C-5 industrial retail and service commercial district. The request is to amend the uses in the area.
The issue, Solon Planning Director Robert S. Frankland explained, is that a broad range of uses is allowed, including retail, but the zoning code permits only such retail uses that serve the surrounding industrial area.
"The request is to have that requirement removed of serving the industrial area," Mr. Frankland said.
"I'm in support of removing the litmus test in the code requiring that retail serve the industrial area, because it's a subjective question," he said.
The city's master plan, released last year, provides for modification of the area, he said.
"The reason that is in the master plan to do that is because the zoning code essentially requires the planning department and law director to make what can be arbitrary decisions as to whether a proposed use serves the industrial area or not," Mr. Frankland said.
"If there is a proposal that is not clear cut, the planning director and law director would make a determination, and that is not how you would want a zoning code to be set up particularly," he said.
In a letter to the city, Jeffrey S. Davis, president of the Davis Development Group and a major property owner in the area, said that, as defined currently, the district is primarily intended to serve the needs of the surrounding industrial businesses and employees.
"When this district was established over 20 years ago, Office Max was the dominant office supplier," Mr. Davis said. "Today, Office Max competes with big-box retailers such as Costco and Wal-Mart, who offer a wide range of office equipment and material," he said.
"For this area to be successful, we need a broader mix of uses that offer various products and services to the market in general," Mr. Davis said.
Parcels in the area that Mr. Davis owns include the locations for Taco Bell-KFC, the movie theater, Longhorn Steakhouse and Senorita Bonita's. He has received support from some other parcels in the area for the request, he said.
John Siragusa, of Asset Management, which operates the Fresenius Dialysis Center in the C-5 area, said he supports the change. Christine Burkholder, president of Kids Country, also in that area, asked that her business be included in the rezoning for Solon Commons.
Mr. Frankland said the request will go before the planning commission, which would hold public hearings and make a recommendation on whether to proceed and then forward it to City Council, which also would hold public hearings on the issue.
"If the result is favorable, they would send it to board of elections," he said.
In 2008, owners of T.S. Macklin Event Center on Enterprise Parkway in the area were advised that an amendment to the zoning code would be needed in order to host a teen event at the center. Questions arose whether that is a prohibited use in the area.
"It was not a listed permitted use," Mr. Frankland said. "Whether this amendment would impact that or not is something the law director, planning commission and council would have to consider.
"They would have to see if they would continue to prohibit that kind of use or not," he said. "With this type of referral, they will look at all the uses in the area."
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