Business reps voice concern

Council holds off voting on Diamond Centre Drive closure

Mentor City Council held off voting on emergency legislation to close Diamond Centre Drive at this week’s meeting.

Councilman at large Ray Kirchner made a motion to leave the ordinance on first reading after two members of the public spoke, expressing concern about the potential closure.

One of them was Don Ashba, owner of Easy Stop Mini Mart at 9570 Diamond Centre. He said his life savings is invested in the business, which has been open for 15 months.

“When I opened the store, I opened it under the premise that I would have Cobblestone — 600-plus apartments — able to get to my store, and I’ve done a pretty good job servicing them,” he said. “If you put that barricade up at the end of the road, I’m out of business. It’s not a guess, it’s not an estimate. Half my business is through Cobblestone.”

Also speaking was Bryan

“If you put that barricade up at the end of the road, I’m out of business . ... ” — Don Ashba, owner of Easy Shop Mini Mart at 9570 Diamond Centre

Baker, representing Grand River Health & Rehab, 1515 Brookstone Blvd., and Saber Health Care Group.

“Obviously, with the type of facility that we are, we have a lot of ambulance emergency situations at times,” Baker said. “We also have a lot of residents who use Laketran. We’re not sure that would impede on that, but obviously it could be.”

On behalf of his employer, he inquired whether the city had done a study to determine if the closure would impact safety services to the Painesville side or whether the city is concerned about a “protracted” lawsuit over the closure.

“It could cause huge issues, obviously, for our nursing home residents with that being closed off,” he said. “I’m the maintenance director at that building; I can tell you I spend thousands of dollars at that Home Depot.”

There was no discussion by council. After the roll was called on the first reading, Kirchner said, “The two people who spoke this evening, I would highly suggest you also speak to the city of Painesville. You might want to ask them about their responsibility and their partner, Shamrock.”

Mentor officials said they can’t comment further on the case as it remains in litigation in Lake County Common Pleas Court.

“We are working diligently on all aspects of this matter,” Mentor Law Director Joseph P. Szeman said.

Mentor seeks to block the road because of failure to enforce a 2008 agreement requiring Shamrock Business Center Ltd. to add a third westbound lane on Diamond Centre at Heisley Road, in exchange for initial access to its Painesville property to the east for development.

Mentor officials fear further degradation of the road’s service once Menard’s opens and being compelled to cover the cost of adding the lane.

As of a year ago, the estimated cost of the turn lane was $393,000, and the cost of moving utilities may add another $400,000.

If the road closure is approved, the city would post signs along the route for five days to notify motorists.

After that, the city administration would be authorized to place a blockade at the corporation limit, east of Home Depot.

The proposal comes a year after the city expressed no confidence in the developer to fulfill the 2008 agreement. Shamrock and Painesville City attorneys filed a revised proposal asking the city to pay for most of it.

Shamrock maintains that the development isn’t as profitable as anticipated and it can no longer afford the expense of the road, according to a Mentor official.

On March 5, Painesville City Manager Monica Irelan Dupee issued a statement indicating that the developer is ignoring its legal responsibility.

“All business ventures have risks,” she said. “You sign a contract, you take a risk. But if conditions change and you don’t like it, in our system you don’t get to walk away from a legal agreement.”

An estimated 25 percent of the total traffic on Diamond Centre originates from Painesville, Mentor officials say.

A 2014 Traffic Impact Study confirmed the design capacity of Diamond Centre was sufficient to continue at a “C” level of service even with Menard’s, provided that a right-turn lane into the Menard’s site was constructed as well as an extension of Diamond Centre’s westbound right turn lane at Heisley Road, both of which are under construction. However, the traffic study was completed before the opening of the Shamrock Boulevard overpass and further development within Shamrock.

In December, the Mentor law director issued another demand that the required improvements to Diamond Centre Drive be built. Shamrock did not respond, the ordinance says.

The city administration contends that Shamrock Boulevard has sufficient design capacity to serve all current traffic as well as traffic from the future build-out of the Shamrock Business Center.

Attempts to reach Shamrock representatives Lance Osborne and attorney Sheldon Berns were unsuccessful.