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Change is at root of zoning revision at Commons area
(by Sue Reid - September 07, 2012)
Change is at root of zoning revision at Commons area
By SUE REID
The impetus for the creation of the Solon Commons area more than 20 years ago was based on several factors, Jeffrey S. Davis, president of the Davis Development Group and primary property owner in that area, recalled recently.
Sea World and Geauga Lake packed the area with people in the summer months, and there were a limited number of restaurants in downtown Solon at the time. As a result, people working in Solon’s industrial area had trouble going to lunch and getting back in a timely fashion, he said.
“Our idea was for a hotel, restaurant and movie theater,” Mr. Davis said of plans by himself and his father, the late Larry Davis. “We came up with zoning for the industrial service district” and through a referendum petition, the zoning was changed from industrial to the new zoning category.
That zoning, which is restricted to Enterprise Parkway and the immediate vicinity, has required since its inception that only uses that are “intended to support the city’s industrial area” are permitted.
This requirement has posed a challenge for property owners in the area attempting to lease tenant space. As a result, and based on a request from Davis Development Group, an amendment to the C-5 industrial service district will be before voters Nov. 6. The amendment would broaden uses in the area and remove the requirement that permitted uses exclusively for the industrial community.
The C-5 zoning district is restricted to 40.8 acres on Enterprise Parkway and the immediate vicinity off Aurora Road (Route 43), east of Cochran Road.
“We can’t make the hurdle of ‘primarily serving the industrial area’,” Mr. Davis said.
A retail strip within the area that started out strong with good occupancy is being impacted like everything else due to the economy, he said, with 13,000 square feet of vacant space in the 21,000-square-foot strip.
Mr. Davis estimates that about 10 tenants have been rejected due to existing requirements. Some uses he has turned away include hair salons and a dance studio.
“There are a lot of uses that don’t need to be in the central business district, but need to serve the market,” he said. “This is a perfect way to do it.”
By expanding the uses, Mr. Davis said he envisions businesses that have “less orientation to industrial and more orientation to consumers.” An example would be Staples or a cellular telephone store.
“I don’t want to take anything away from the central business district,” he said, “but this is an opportunity to come and serve the Solon market.”
Retail is changing, Mr. Davis said. “You can no longer specialize in serving one market.” He gave as an example that when the industrial service district was established, Office Max was the dominant office supplier.
“Today, Office Max competes with big-box retailers such as Costco and Walmart, which 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.”
In the Enterprise Parkway area are restaurants, two hotels, a banquet center, a daycare center and a bank building, to name a few of the uses. Mr. Davis said he has received support from other parcels in the area for the request. For example, John Siragusa of Asset Management, which operates the Fresenius Dialysis Center, and Christine Burkholder, president of Kids Country, are in favor of the change.
“We had to get approval from all of the owners to ask for the rezoning, and they all have approved,” he said. “They all want more traffic on Enterprise Parkway, which benefits everyone.”
Mr. Davis said his father would be in support of the change. Larry Davis, who died in 1999, was a key landholder in Solon and considered one of the founding fathers of the city’s industrial community.
In seeking the amendment on this fall’s ballot, Mr. Davis indicated that the zoning change is recommended by the city’s master plan. The recommendation to expand the list of permitted uses within the C-5 district has been in the master plan document since 2010 and was reaffirmed by the present master plan citizen’s committee during its review of the plan earlier this year.
While zoning generally is treated as a “static item,” he said, “it’s really alive.”
“Things change, and you have to have a vision for the future,” he added. “Unfortunately, I think some of that gets lost.”
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