Final plan for retail center approved

Plans for a retail center targeting “fast-casual” restaurant tenants are progressing after proponents agreed to traffic circulation changes.

The project involves demolishing a vacant Huntington Bank branch at 7720 Mentor Ave. and Plaza Boulevard to make way for a 7,200-squarefoot multitenant building with a restaurant patio.

Thomas English Real Estate representatives said that the new building will include a Sleep Number mattress store in the largest tenant space. Developers are in the process of leasing the balance of the site to restaurant prospects similar to Chipotle and BIBIBOP.

Mentor Planning Commission recently approved the final site plan after the applicant agreed to reverse the traffic pattern of the oneway drive parallel to Plaza Boulevard to travel southward, to provide for safer circulation.

City officials expressed concern with the direction of the traffic flow on the east side of the building. As motorists enter the site from Mentor Avenue, the administration saw turnaround limitations in the front parking aisle, should all of the spaces become occupied.

“This is like a definition of bumper cars,” said Commission member Geoffrey Varga, who dissented on the vote.

Directional arrows and “Do Not Enter” pavement markings will be added on the one-way drive lane, and “Do Not Enter” signs must be placed on both sides of the drive at the southeast corner of the building.

Project engineer Ralph Terbrueggen indicated that the initial circulation plan was designed with a potential drive-through in mind.

“I know that that would require a conditional-use permit and we’d have to come back for that, but it certainly gives us the option,” he said.

City Planning Director Kathy Mitchell responded, “I guess my comment would be that’s not on the table at the moment, so we have to deal with the proposal as it’s being presented.”

The commission also added a condition that two parking spaces be eliminated to provide more travel room. While the change brings the number of spaces below city code standards, the panel has discretion to decrease the required amount if it is determined that fewer are still appropriate for the proposed uses.

The preliminary site plan and conditional-use permit were approved in January.

Each tenant will employ about five people for 15 total, Thomas English said in a letter to the city.

“The project will provide major upgrades in terms of architectural style, functionality and business activity to a very prominent intersection in the city of Mentor,” he said.

The building was constructed in 1977 for Chase Bank. In 1989, Huntington Bank took over the space.

SUBMITTED This was the initial concept for a building proposed on the Huntington Bank site at Route 20 and Plaza Boulevard in Mentor.