Proposed plan for corridor considered

An ambitious, if not far off, vision for the Concord Business Corridor is underway as the Concord-Painesville Joint Economic Development District Board recently considered a multiphased proposal plan to develop the area within a few hundred yards of the Interstate 90 and Route 44 intersection.

The corridor, near the TriPoint Medical Center and University Hospitals Concord Health Center, is the development subject of a new conception for a “town center” plan. The comprehensive plan was

presented to members of the JEDD as well as the Concord Board of Zoning Appeals and Concord Township trustees to review proposals to potentially begin building on the 7-acre parcel site in future.

Current JEDD members include Lake Health TriPoint Medical Center, University Hospitals Concord Health Center, Concord Township Community Center and the city of Painesville.

According to the JEDD’s website, the medical institutions have made the corridor a health care hub, with the private offices of doctors and other related medical specialties, bringing in more than 1,300 employees daily, in addition to visitors and patients. Embracing the axiom “retail follows rooftops,” the location has 14,223 people living within a two-mile radius and 79,793 within five miles.

The proposal stems from an opportunity to progress from an original plan presented last November.

The proposal hopes to develop recreational and residential amenities with the possibility of an additional public facility. The overall development, according to the proposal, will serve a number of different functions,

including incorporated outdoor structures and planned activities.

The master plan conceptualization also includes mixed-use development in the construction of multifamily, multistory vertical and horizontal townhomes, mixed-use commercial and office space and civic components. The housing units, as currently proposed, will number 170-200 and individually measure 1,500 square feet. The possibility of ball fields is also being considered.

“We’re starting to set standards,” said JEDD President Jim O’Leary, “standards rooted in our previous plan updates and evolution. The 2016 new town center visualization/conceptualization configures with the 2015 updated town center model.

“The implementation stands in phases without sacrificing (the) vision of different developers. This remains a constellation of streamlined proposals to ensure balance.”

Addressing alignment issues, or the potential of their existence, the digital rendering presented building strategies to construct “unified, clean, simple and straightforward designs,” with pedestrian streetscapes, green zones/lawns and sidewalks to offset (construction) density, with the possibility of a public parking garage. Outdoor dining and seasonal

festival and marketplace (event) seating is also a consideration for the overall master plan.

Comprehensive signage, built into the landscape, is also a component included to secure a “downtown hub, gateway” atmosphere, reminiscent of the lifestyle centers in Lyndhurst (Legacy Village) and Westlake (Crocker Park), complete with roundabouts at Auburn Road and Capital Parkway. Retail and residential buildings will be designed to stand close to internal streets to ensure “balance” and continuous traffic access movement — pedestrian, vehicular and cycling alike.

The proposal also pitches the addition of walking paths and other outdoor amenities of different gradations. The cost of the entire plan, even in fluctuating phases, is unknown at this time.

Concord Township Trustee Chris Galloway said he wants the zoning board to know as much as they can moving forward.

“Their job, right now, is to wait, our job (JEDD) is to drive the cattle to them. And that’s what we’re working on. It’s important for us to know that the board be as knowledgeable as the process as we’re moving forward so when it gets to them, they know the history, they know the ‘why’ and the ‘how.’ ”