The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
City debates Legacy Isle project on former golf course
Avon Lake City Council adopted an improvement plan for phase one of the Legacy Isle subdivision on Jan. 25 with area residents continuing to express concerns about potential flooding.
The project led by Kopf Construction is part of a larger plan to build 140 residential homes that would eliminate about half of the Sweetbriar Golf Course east of English Turn and Heron Bay, just south of Legacy Pointe Parkway.
Phase one of the project involves about 15 single family homes and 15 cluster homes.
Heron Bay resident Charles Reeder stressed to council that the concerns of residents have been ignored.
“We deserve to know that the new development will not increase the drainage problems that we now have to the east, west and north of the golf course,” Reeder said. “Legacy Isle I will irreversibly change a major water retention area and Heider Creek, and if the proposed drainage design fails, many homeowners will suffer and we have to live with the results. “
Reeder added his belief that responses from Kopf have been inadequate, and said additional concerns about increased traffic and vehicle access have gone unaddressed, forcing residents to voice their concerns more forcefully.
Resident Mike Johnson of Heron asked council to vote no on the proposal. He said he believed council was rushing to approve too quickly without adequate consideration of resident concerns, taking issue with plans to install a connector he feels violates their private property rights of eminent domain.
“For three years, we’ve been coming here complaining, bringing facts, figures and all sorts of information to you only to be overlooked and not taken seriously. That’s terrible. As public servants your job is to protect us. And I don’t think you’re doing your job,” Johnson said.
Jim Sayler, a design engineer for Kopf, told council
after reviewing concerns from homeowners about groundwater and surface water, no one cause was identified. The issue was reviewed by the Avon Lake Public Works Department and additional outside engineers.
“While there were a number of problems identified
they did not appear to arise from a single cause, and it did not appear to occur at a higher rate of incidents than any other areas of the city. Even so, Kopf Builders offered to make improvements to any homes where current concerns could be addressed. And they subsequently expended considerable
resources fulfilling that offer,” Sayler said.
The first phase of the project responds to flooding concerns that incorporates information provided by homeowners with additional storm water features that go beyond the minimum requirements in
Avon Lake’s storm water ordinances.
“There are a lot of concerns, but we do acknowledge them we investigated all of them. But we did not find any that could be addressed by changes to this plan,” Sayler added.
Public Works Director Joe Reitz clarified the city’s position addressing concerns about the current drainage and storm water conditions not being reflected in FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Administration) flood plain maps, stressing these maps are not updated for proposed developments.
“Based on the studies, the Legacy Isle development will not negatively impact the existing Heider Creek 100 year floodplain elevation. Since upstream areas from the existing dam are a concern, further study may be necessary if what the residents claim is true that a new map could put more properties in a floodplain,” Reitz noted. “The concerns of these resident’s comments does not represent a requirement to update the FEMA maps prior to the development.”