Members present:                                                         David Benner
                                                                                        James Bauder
                                                                                        Stephen Bergman
                                                                                        Nancy Detwiler
                                                                                        James Conley
Zoning Inspector:                                                          Joni Poindexter
Zoning Data Coordinator:                                           Andrea Paumier

Absent member:                                                           Donna Conaway

Amendment – 562-07
TRC Realty, 8869 Brecksville Rd., Suite A, Brecksville, OH 44141, agent for property owners, Peble Clark, 6733 Frank Ave., Robert Kugel, 6721 Frank Ave., Darlene Lock, 6699 Frank Ave., and Marjan Kochovski, parcel no. 1627225 (vacant lot ) Frank Ave., N. Canton, OH 44720, proposes to rezone B-1 suburban office and limited business district, R-2 two family district, and R-R rural residential district to B-3 commercial business district: 6733, 6721, 6699, Frank Ave. NW & .1479 acres of parcel no. 1627225, Sect. 11SE, Jackson Twp.

Mr. Bergman read the file application and contents of the file and RPC recommendation.

Mr. Bergman asked the applicant if the Board will be voting on the approval of the modification to B-1 or for the Board to hear the original intent was submitted to B-3.

Mr. Gruber, attorney representing the applicant, stated that the B-3 use is what will be asked of the Board to vote on this evening.

Mr. Benner took over as head chairman at this time.

Mr. Gruber stated his address as 6370 Mt. Pleasant.

Mr. Gruber stated he is here to represent the applicant who is proposing to rezone the property that was described in the application to B-3. All of the listed properties are under contract with a developer and the developer proposes to construct a Walgreens on this site. The developer has about 30 years experience developing and they have developed about 35 Walgreen stores, including the Walgreen’s located on the corner of Wales and Hills & Dales. What the applicant is asking for is a B-3 rezoning, not because of the type of intensive uses that RPC was concerned with. If you look at this site, those intensive uses due to the size of the proposed property. The applicant would like to construct a 14,000 sq. ft. store on this site. Mr. Gruber stated he believes that district B-2 was just changes to 7,500 sq. ft., but because of the foot print of the intended store, is the reason district B-3 is being proposed. This store is more of a neighborhood store and is not a “big box” store. It is not as large as many of the other type of drug stores that are seen in the area. This proposed store is a good fit for the neighborhood especially with the near by doctor’s offices and commercial office district which is just south of the property on Frank Ave. It will be an all brick building and fit very nicely into this site. The located has been chosen because of the existing traffic pattern, this is not the kind of store that is going to generate a lot of new traffic. The site plan shows how well this store fits on this site. Normally this store would be built on about 1.3 acres, this site is approaching about 2 acres leaving plenty of space and buffer. The reason a small portion of  Mr. Kochovski property is part of the rezoning is because there is an access on Portage. So there will be one ingress and egress on Portage significantly from the traffic light and one ingress and egress on Frank which is also significantly down from the traffic light. Having this lay out will really be nice because it will help eliminate the need for left hand turns onto Frank in this area. There are 3 separate properties, which are under contract to be developed as one site. The alternative could be 3 separate buildings, which would be tight compact sites. There would be also be 3 separate ingress’ and egress’ on Frank, which would be much more of a problem with traffic then what the applicant is proposing.

Mr. Benner asked if he was correct in saying, Mr. Gruber is proposing the second through the forth pieces of property, heading south on Frank.

Mr. Gruber stated that is correct. Also a piece going west to be developed as an ingress and egress.

Mr. Benner asked if that piece of property is undeveloped.

Mr. Gruber stated yes and most of that property will stay R-2.

Mr. Benner asked if Mr. Gruber stated that there is a planned egress on the third piece of property, does that by any chance line up with the drive way across the street.

Mr. Gruber unable to answer that, the plan does not show the driveways.

Mr. Benner asked in reference to the picture Mr. Gruber presented to the Board, if the corner of the building across the street positioned correctly.

Mr. Gruber stated that it is close if not directly.

Mr. Bauder asked if the building could be moved down. There are two egress’ in different directions and staggered.

Mr. Gruber stated he understands that there is one egress on Frank and one egress on Portage.

Mr. Bauder asked if that is a left hand turn onto Portage.

My Gruber stated that is correct.

Mr. Bauder stated that this property could also be used as a cut through from Portage onto Frank.

Mr. Gruber stated that is correct with any corner property.

Mr. Conley asked Ms. Poindexter what the property across the street is zoned.

Ms. Poindexter stated that is a B-1 district.

Mr. Benner asked if the Bank across the street is also zoned B-1.

Ms. Poindexter stated yes.

Mr. Bergman asked if Walgreen’s develops any 7,500 sq. ft. drug stores.

Mr. Gruber stated no.

Mr. Conley asked if the applicant looked into purchasing the property that is currently located on the corner of Portage and Frank.

Mr. Gruber stated yes he believes so.

Ms. Detwiler stated that the reason the square footage was increased to 7,500 sq. ft. for a B-2 district was to keep buffer area there between the residential. What if the building is sold in the near future, what control does the applicant have of who would have the property next.

Mr. Gruber stated that the control would be the size of the lot. This property does not have the large lot size like the properties across the street.

Mr. Bergman stated however that possibility gives lean to the owner on the corner selling as a B-3 to expand the site. Mr. Bergman also stated that by issuing a B-3 at the corner is concerning to him.

Mr. Gruber stated that there is a significant investment with this 25 year lease for the drug store.

Mr. Benner asked if anyone else in the audience would like to speak in favor of the rezone.

Mr. Cazzolli owner of office space south of property owner Ms. Lock, 6677 Frank Ave. Mr. Cazzolli stated that he is not part of the development at this time but he feels that with everything that is happening on Frank, whether it is called B-1, B-2 or B-3 the traffic is there, the business is there, the college is breaking ground today to put in another facility on the other side, which is the east side. Mr. Cazzolli stated that he pulls out of his property everyday and when school is in session you may have to turn right in order to turn left. It’s a growing area in Jackson Township. He stated he has been a resident for 20 years and has seen a lot happen since the purchase of that office space. There is no doubt about it, that is a busy area but he does not believe that a Walgreen’s would change how busy that area is, when currently on average the traffic is 16,500 on Frank and 21,500 on Portage. This is a B-3 area already, there just isn’t an identity on B-3. We can call it residential, B -1, or B-2 but the volume and the business is B-3.

Ms. Cazzolli wife Mr. Cazzolli, property owner of 6677 Frank Ave.  stated that her husband has had that office space since 1996. At that time it was residential area. The neighbors around this area did not ask for the businesses to come there. Some of the residents have lived there for 40 plus years and enjoy their homes. This area is commercial whether it is zoned commercial or not. The increase in programs at Stark State will increase the traffic in the next 5 years at the school. Ms. Cazzolli does not believe that Walgreen’s will increase traffic flow or accidents.

Mr. Kugel stated he is the owner of 6721 Frank. This area is far from being residential and long been commercial all around his property. Across the street with their smoke, the traffic, the planes passing over every 15 minutes. The applicant has made the property owners a nice offer for his property.

Ms. Clark stated she is the owner of 6733 Frank agrees with Mr. Kugel, the traffic and the noise is horrible. This is not a residential area anymore and the property owners are unable to sell the homes for anything other then a business because no one would want to live there. Ms. Clark stated that she is unable to go outside and enjoy the summer days because of the noise.

Mr. Kochovski stated he is the owner of the vacant lot, parcel no. 1627225. The traffic already exists because this is a business area. The property owners that live there now, in his opinion should not be living there anymore because of the traffic.

Mr. Danner, 5220 Portage, property located west of Mr. Kochovski’s property.  Mr. Danner stated that he would be hard pressed to argue against the development when you look across the street and you see Gander Mountain, a gas stations, restaurants, and other businesses and Walgreen’s would be the best use for the property. Buffering is important in this situation.

Mr. Benner asked if Mr. Danner can actually see this property from his.

Mr. Danner stated yes, he can see the back of the property.

Mr. Bauder asked if his property is 1.5 acres in size.

Mr. Danner stated no that it is in fact 1.65 acres.

Mr. Gruber stated that he would like to inform the Board that the developer is not asking for all of Mr. Kochovski’s property to be rezoned B-3, just the portion of the access drive. The rest of the property will remain R-2.

Mr. Benner asked if anyone else in the audience would like to speak in opposition of the rezone.

No one else spoke.

Mr. Bergman stated that he understands the predicament that property owners Ms. Clark and Mr. Kugel face.

Mr. Bergman asked if there were any discussion with the adjacent property owners.

Mr. Thompson stated he is the agent for the developer. He stated that they have sat down individually with each of the adjacent property owners and explained the project and showed them site plans.

Mr. Benner closed to public input.

Mr. Bergman stated that no one spoke in opposition of the rezone and that struck him odd. He also stated that he appreciates the growth of Jackson Township in that area. The goal has been to insure that the residential areas do not get expanded into the “big box” areas and a B-3 zoning regardless of  what was said this evening has the potential to become a “ big box” area regardless of what Walgreen’s promises. Yet at the same time he understands that something has to happen to these properties.

Mr. Conley stated that initially when looking at the proposal he was clearly not in favor of the rezone simply because of the change from R-R to B-3 is such a radical change. However now he stated that he is in favor of the rezone.

Ms. Detwiler stated that she understands the difficulty of the home owners, but they do have to option to sell to B-1 business owners they do not have to sell has residential. However, at the same time she still feels this is a potential traffic problem.

Mr. Bauder stated that once the zoning is changes to B-3 that does not mean that Walgreen’s is going to go there. Once it is changed, it is changed forever Jackson Township has no control over what happens to that property once rezoned.

Mr. Benner stated that he has concerns with rezoning this property because once the property has been rezoned it does not have to be used for what the property initially has been requested for. There are some compelling arguments that this whole side of the street is pretty much commercial and is buffered by R-2 to the west and other B-1 businesses.

Mr. Conely stated that he agrees with Mr. Benner it is a leap of faith that Walgreen’s will be building there with a 25 year lease.

Mr. Benner asked Ms. Poindexter what the setbacks are on the rear of the property, R-2 district.

Ms. Poindexter stated that setbacks were 75 ft. building setback and a 20 ft. parking setback with screening from the residential area.

Mr. Bauder asked how high the screening has to be.

Ms. Poindexter stated the screening has to be a minimum of 6 ft. within 2 years.

Mr. Bauder made a motion to accept the change of zoning request in Amendment 562-70

Mr. Bergman seconded the motion.

The vote was: Mr. Conley – Yes, Ms. Detwiler – No, Mr. Bergman – Yes, Mr. Bauder – No, and Mr. Benner – Yes

Mr. Bergman made a motion to accept the May 17th, 2007 meeting minutes.

Mr. Bauder seconded the motion.

All was in favor.

Mr. Bergman made a motion to adjourn.

Mr. Bauder seconded the motion.

All was in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrea Paumier
Zoning Data Coordinator