The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Garfield Road plan questioned
Land would need to be rezoned for Village Green housing development
A proposal to rezone Garfield Road land for a Village Green housing development was met with several questions from Mentor Planning Commission — namely, “Why do it?”
The commission on Feb. 14 provided feedback on the informal request to change property at 8180 and 8188 Garfield from R-4 Single-family Residential to RVG Village Green.
The conceptual plan calls for 41 homes on the site, where the 159-year-old Echo Hill Farm house stands.
Dustin Keeney of Willoughby Hills-based Polaris Engineering & Surveying spoke on behalf of applicants Charles and Scott Andrews, representatives of the property owner, the Gloria M. Andrews Trust.
“It’s their feeling that cul-desac lots are very desirable,” Keeney said. “They’re hoping for a higher-end product in here.”
He acknowledged concerns about the site entrance being
The conceptual plan calls for 41 homes on the site, where the 159-year-old Echo Hill Farm house stands.
less than 200 feet from the Norton Parkway access and said there is potential to adjust the development to the north. However, he said there may be sightdistance issues in that location because of the topography.
He also addressed the city administration’s concerns about cul de sac lengths beyond the 600foot minimum and lack of a second access.
“I know the fire code recommends after 30 units that you have a second entrance,” Keeney said. “We would be at 36 off of a single entrance. I just want to make sure, from a planning perspective, that we don’t try to come up with a way to get a second entrance in here and create more of an issue with a second intersection and … try to fix one safety thing and maybe, potentially, cause another problem.”
The commission wanted to talk about other aspects of the proposal.
“Why can’t this be developed as R-4?” Chairman William Snow asked, noting such developments on either side of the property. “I think that’s one thing we’re going to want to see is how would a typical subdivision lay out on this site with an R-4 zoning.”
Commission member Geoffrey Varga echoed his sentiments.
“Why would we want to change it?” he asked. “From a planning point of view, keeping consistent zoning would be, in my opinion, a good thing, a good planning principle. We should at least evaluate this property from an R-4 point of view initially.”
Varga went on to say that Village Green zoning is intended for lands that are unusually shaped or otherwise problematic properties. He said that is not the case here.
“I think the thought here is that, before we consider changing the zoning, I think we need to see that there’s a reason to do that, and I don’t know that I see a reason to do that,” he said. “And by keeping it R-4, I think that might mitigate the cul de sac length.”
Varga then took issue with a plan to provide a minimum of 15 percent open space, as required in RVG, by running a walking path behind most of the homes.
“I don’t think that putting a walkway behind every house in the subdivision is a recreational opportunity,” he said. “For me, it’s like a peeping Tom opportunity. If I lived here, I wouldn’t want people walking through my backyard. I would much rather see a consolidated recreation area.”
He indicated that retaining some of the trees on the heavily wooded property could provide a centralized recreation area.
“When I see a development scheme like this, I don’t see any trees,” he added. “I basically see a bulldozer come in and flatten this for development.”
Commission member Joseph Sidoti asked how many homes could be developed under existing zoning. Keeney estimated 32.
City Manager Ken Filipiak noted that, regardless of the zoning, the cul de sac lengths would need to be addressed due to safety force access concerns.
“You have your marching orders,” Snow said.