Mayor Hunter: We’re growing

Sheffield Village Mayor John D. Hunter emphasized his community is growing during the ninth annual Mayor’s Business Council Breakfast Meeting.

Hunter’s address took place May 15 at Quaker Steak and Lube, 4900 Transportation Drive, where he told public officials and business leaders from across the county about the state of business in the village.

The Avon Lake Ford Plant, also known as Ohio Assembly Plant, which has 52 percent of its property in the village, will bring in a new product line, he said.

The line will be down for about four to six weeks with a vacation shut down, Hunter said.

“They’re doing a lot of that work now to start up a new product line with the new trucks,” he said. “They’re going to be building other models and setting up their flex body shop, etc.”

Hunter said, despite the name, the Ford plant is the village’s largest taxpayer and the company eventually will develop the property it owns in Sheffield Village.

The mayor also pushed anyone interested in starting or expanding a business to consider the village.

“Bring your business to Sheffield Village,” he said. “If you can’t come to the village, come to Lorain County. If you can’t come to Lorain County, come to Ohio.

“We’ll get a little bit of that back in return to our city, whether it be with one of our 26 restaurants in Sheffield Village, or one of the 305 businesses we have in Sheffield Village.”

In the past year, 15 new businesses opened in the village, which has the lowest tax millage in the county, Hunter said.

The village has grown from 2,900 people coming in to work to about 5,200 over the past 10 years, he said.

This growth leads people to believe the village could become like Avon and deal with similar traffic woes, the mayor said.

“No, we’re not,” Hunter said. “We’re not going to be Avon, we want to be like Avon.

“We love Avon, but we’re Sheffield Village. We want to be a village, and we want to have all the amenities of a city.”

Hunter said the village accomplishes this by forcing any new businesses to complete traffic studies, both current and future prospects; and a storm water study, to ensure the businesses don’t disrupt the area.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL Sheffield Village Mayor John D. Hunter, who also serves as safety service director, gives the State of the Village address May 15, during the ninth annual Mayor’s Business Council Breakfast Meeting at Quaker Steak and Lube.