The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Council adds zone for storage
HarborWalk neighborhood to include buildings with storage units
New buildings with storage units are coming to Lorain’s HarborWalk neighborhood.
On Nov. 5, Lorain City Council voted 9-2 to approve a zoning changed needed to add three buildings with 39 units to the land west of Arizona Avenue across from Anchor Lane, Bascule Drive and Compass Lane.
Since a presentation at September’s Lorain City Planning Commission meeting, the project has sparked some debate and the Nov. 5 deliberations were no different.
Before voting, Council amended the special land use plan to limit future use of the land if the storage units are not successful. They also heard from Lorain attorney Anthony Giardini, who is guiding the development of the storage units, along with four new townhouses.
He has said the homes would be the first new residential construction in HarborWalk in 13 years and the entire project will total about $2 million in new construction there.
Council recessed into committee to allow additional comments from residents.
The new storage units will be for HarborWalk residents, not open to the general public, and there is demand for them, Giardini said.
But some opponents also came out to make their final pleas against the plan.
Neighbor Leslie Richardson presented her petition showing at least 46 of 141 HarborWalk residents, or 33 percent, did not want the storage units there. Residents of upper HarborWalk, the area closest to the new buildings, were 68 percent opposed to the project, she said.
Richardson argued Arizona Avenue is a residential street not appropriate for commercial development that could go on East Erie Avenue or Colorado Avenue.
Dr. Sam Salas of Lorain said he hoped to buy a unit in HarborWalk, but was reconsidering due to the project. Arizona Avenue is the most attractive way to enter HarborWalk, said Kathy Callahan, a HarborWalk landlord who plans to move there in the future. She suggested creating an entrance with a replica lighthouse and building new garages between Sunset Avenue and Colorado Avenue, or developing the storage facility off F Street nearby.
Council spent much of the meeting discussing nuances and legalities of the city zoning code to protect future use of the land. Supporters on Council said they wanted to ensure if the storage units close, a new owner would not build a multi-story storage space or put a junkyard there.
Council members Beth Henley of Ward 1, Angel Arroyo Jr. of Ward 6 and Councilman-at-Large Joe Koziura voiced support as long as the land use could be guaranteed.
Councilman-at-Large Mitch Fallis and Ward 2 Councilman Dennis Flores dissented in the 9-2 vote.
Changing zoning generally is a struggle, Fallis said, and at HarborWalk it appeared there were better locations for new storage spaces.
Council voted to amend the Sept. 5 recommendation of the Planning Commission, which approved the needed zoning change from R-PUD Residential Planned Unit Development to I-1 Light Industrial.
The light industrial zoning is the only zoning classification in the city that would allow construction of storage units, city SafetyService Director Dan Given has said.
If all goes well, construction could start this year, but most of the building likely will take place in 2019, Giardini has said.
During and after the meeting, Callahan said she supports Giardini’s efforts to develop HarborWalk with new townhouses and a restaurant and event space planned there.
“I just see a lot of potential for that little piece of land, not storage units,” she said. “I’m glad about everything he’s doing except the storage units.”