GetGo gets green light for City Market

Mentor Planning Commission expresses traffic safety concerns

A GetGo project for the City Market development is proceeding despite some concerns from the Mentor Planning Commission.

After a debate about access, the commission unanimously approved the final site plan for a gas station with eight dispensing islands (16 pumps) and a convenience store/cafe with outdoor patio at 6800 Center St.

The project is to go on the former Hertz site just south of the Route 2 eastbound exit ramp.

The commission passed the project with several conditions, including a newly added item asking that signs warning traffic not to exit at the Route 615 (Center Street) entrance be larger than Ohio Department of Transportation standards.

That was proposed by commission member Geoffrey Varga after expressing concern about people using that right-in-only entrance as an access onto the busy thoroughfare. He initially proposed removing that entrance altogether.

“If we give them the opportunity to drive out into 615, they’ll do it, and I’m not sure I know how to stop them from doing it,” he said.

Project engineer Brian Wellert noted that the drive is already there, installed when the City Market development went forward. He added that safety was taken into consideration when the GetGo plan was designed, by angling the drive off of 615 and planning “Do not enter” signs onto the road.

Commission member Brian Cook indicated that cut-through traffic could be an issue in the GetGo lot, for customers wanting to get to Giant Eagle. He was in favor of closing the access point as well.

City Planning Director Kathy Mitchell cautioned that the change would have to be reviewed by her department and the engineer’s office.

“I don’t know that we can remove it,” she said. “It might have been part of the original agreement.”

Wellert said he did speak with Mentor traffic engineer Allen Pennington with regard to the traffic flow.

“He was on board with the drives and the signage on site,” Wellert said. “His biggest concern was to maintain that the signs were shown and 7 feet.”

Mitchell pointed out that a median on Route 615 would prevent motorists from turning northward on the road.

Varga continued to protest. “I have no problems with the whole thing except that I don’t want to drive by there in a year and see somebody T-boned in the middle of the street there from people coming out,” he said. “To me, it’s a safety issue, that’s all.”

Commission member Richard Cicero said he liked the access from 615 as a matter of convenience but requested extra landscaping and enhancing the drive angle to further discourage motorists trying to exit.

“Obviously, we cannot stop everyone,” Wellert said. “To exit out that lane would be very low visibility. They will (also) be turning against the natural flow of traffic around that site.”

The commission in 2015 recommended rezoning about 12 acres from M-2, Heavy Manufacturing to B-2, General Business for the City Market project, later approved by voters. The site plan went forward in 2017.