Public comment sought

Road must be abandoned by city for removal by City Market developer

The public is invited to weigh in on a procedure required for a retail redevelopment to proceed at Routes 2 and 615 in Mentor.

A public hearing on the proposed vacation of Kelly Drive — parallel to the Route 2 eastbound exit ramp onto 615 — will be held at 7 p.m. July 5 in City Council chambers.

The vacation would make way for construction of the Visconsi Companies Ltd. project on 20 acres southwest of the interchange.

“The residents and businesses that are along Kelly are going to disappear and, therefore, that roadway will become a portion

of the developable area of this project,” said Ronald M. Traub, Mentor economic & community development director, noting that the new development is being called City Market.

“That roadway needs to be physically removed and utilities need to relocated as a part of that.”

Council on July 5 also will consider a development agreement with VOH-Mentor, LLC — Visconsi’s local development arm — to delineate responsibilities for construction.

The estimated cost of site improvements, not including buildings, is $13 million. About $1.7 million of that is in the public right of way.

Among the proposed improvements are new traffic lights on Route 615 and Tyler Boulevard to serve the development. The agreement calls for the city to construct and complete these improvements by Aug. 1, 2018.

“Sometimes we do the improvements, sometimes the developer does them,” Traub said. “In this case, we’ll undertake the construction (in the right of way). … The developer will be incurring the cost of demolition of those buildings and utilities, in addition to constructing the grocery store.”

The anchor tenant of the development is a 55,000-square-foot grocery, believed to be a Giant Eagle. The design also indicates six outlots and an area designated as Phase II. Four existing businesses

will remain on Route 615: El Rodeo Mexican restaurant, Mentor Family Restaurant, Enterprise RentA-Car and Jim’s Discount Car & Truck. A daycare on Tyler Boulevard will be preserved as well.

The agreement also spells out how the city proposes funding its portion of the project.

Council is anticipated to approve a 100 percent, 30year tax increment financing deal.

A “TIF” would enable the city to make payments on the work with taxes accrued on the increased value of the property once the development is completed.

The developer indicated that the appraised value of the improvements will be more than $20 million and that the taxes generated by the project will be sufficient

to cover the cost of the upgrades, Traub said.

There is also a provision in the pact regarding default by either party.

“The Mentor Schools will be ‘kept whole,’ meaning they will receive all of the monies they would have received had the TIF agreement not been in place,” Traub said.

Last month, the project received unanimous final site plan approval from Mentor Planning Commission.

Other proposed uses include a 16-pump gas station/convenience store, 48,000 square feet of retail space, a 7,000-squarefoot auto parts store, a 3,000-square-foot fast food restaurant with drive-thru, another 6,000 square feet of retail space and — eventually — a 35,000-squarefoot fitness center.