Lake Road permit moratorium extended

Avon Lake City Council voted Oct. 4 in favor of a six-month extension on conditional use permits on Lake Road, also known as U.S. Route 6.

In a special meeting of Council, Avon Lake Council-at-Large member and economic development committee chair Zach Arnold said the moratorium initially was put in place after the city announced the NRG power plant would cease operations and eventually be demolished, targeting the Lake Road focus area.

“The purpose of the moratorium was to allow more review in the power plant area by suspending new conditional uses to make sure that the new conditional use wasn’t going to work against the redevelopment efforts,” Arnold said.

The previous moratorium expired Sept. 30.

Avon Lake has prioritized Lake Road as part of its revised planning and zoning codes, and due to the new codes being adopted later than expected, the new moratorium extended until March 31, will coincide with the closure of the power plant expected around late March.

In June, the city announced the closure of the 627-watt coal-fired power plant located at 33570 Lake Road.

Louisville based-Charah Solutions Inc. will take control of the 40-acre property in May 2022 and oversee the redevelopment of the area.

According to a July 19 news release, as part of the agreement, Charah Solutions, through its subsidiary Avon Lake Environmental Redevelopment Group LLC (ALERG), will acquire the 40-acre area property which consists of multiple parcels adjacent to the generating plant, including the generating station, submerged lands lease in Lake Erie, substation/switch gear and transformers, administrative offices and structures, coal rail and storage yard parcels south of Lake Road as well as the interconnection agreement.

ALERG will be responsible for the shutdown and decommissioning of the coal power plant and performing all environmental remediation and redevelopment work at the site.

The company has retained Avison Young to provide real estate advisory, development and brokerage services to oversee the redevelopment of the property in an environmentally conscious manner and future sale of the remediated property.