Council at stalemate with Legacy Pointe expansion

Concerned Avon Lake homeowners will have to wait a little longer to know whether a controversial housing development project will get the green light from Avon Lake City Council.

The third and final reading of the proposed expansion to the Legacy Pointe housing development ended in a 3-3 tie Oct. 22, prompting confusion.

With audience members expressing their displeasure, in his initial interpretation, Avon Lake Law Director Abe Lieberman said he understood the tie vote to indicate a failure to reject the Planning Commission’s Aug. 7 recommendation.

“The way the ordinance is written, it appears that, and I will do some checking on this obviously, you have one of two choices,” Lieberman said. “You can approve it, or you can reject it.

“If you take no action, it is deemed approved. A 3-3 vote indicates to me you’ve taken no affirmative action to approve or reject the ruling of the Planning Commission.”

Lieberman explained the ordinance was addressing an administrative action by Planning Commission.

“The difference is here, that normally to pass something, you need a majority vote,” he said. “Without a majority vote, it fails to pass. In this situation, you’ve got to do one of two things.

“You’ve got to approve it, or you’ve got to reject it. Each of those requires a majority vote. If you do nothing, then it’s deemed an approval.

“So, in this case, you must affirmatively reject it, or affirmatively approve it. If you do nothing in a tie vote, it indicates no action in my opinion.”

With a lack of clear decision by Council on the situation, Lieberman told The Morning Journal he would confer with Assistant Law Director David Graves over the next few days and expects to announce a decision to Council on Oct. 29.

“It’ll take a few days; I’ll be talking to the Assistant Law Director (David Graves) and, hopefully, we’ll come to the same conclusion,” Lieberman said. “Because it’s an important issue, I don’t want to be rushed into it.

“Last night, I wasn’t aware it was going to be a tie vote. As a result, my opinion there was off the cuff.”

Lieberman stressed the legal considerations in the Avon Lake City Charter differ between ordinances and Planning Commission recommendations with the latter being an administrative action versus a legislative action.

Legacy Isle by Kopf Builders aims to add 148 homes to Legacy Pointe, eliminating the original nine holes of the Sweetbriar Golf and Pro Shop located at 750 Jaycox Road.

The revised plan would expand the development to the southeast side of the existing residential development, east of English Turn and Heron Bay and south of Legacy Pointe Parkway.

The Planning Commission approved the proposal Aug. 7, 7-0.