Lorain County growth

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/4/06 PD:


Vote against developer could bring annexation
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Carl Matzelle
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbia Township -- For now, butterflies flutter across quiet soybean fields at Clarke and Snell roads. But bulldozers soon could destroy the peace.

A developer wants to build houses on 57 acres there. Voters will decide Nov. 7 whether to grant rezoning for the project, but it's not a clear-cut choice.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
cmatzelle@plaind.com, 440-934-0522

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1159260083149000.xml&coll=2
From the 10/5/06 PD:


Neighbors howl over 3 (stinky) little pigs
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Carl Matzelle
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbia Township - You think your neighbors are bad? What if they weighed 300 pounds and rooted in the mud?

What if they smelled so bad you couldn't use your screened-in porch or hot tub?

Dorothy and Andrew Verbus say it's even worse than that. They say they can't go outside because of the three pigs in a pen next door.
 
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
cmatzelle@plaind.com, 440-934-0522

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lorain/1160037021226811.xml&coll=2

[buildingcincinnati]

Both from the 10/6/06 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:


PHOTO: A short fence is all that separates 4-year-old Michael Verbus of Columbia Station and his neighbor’s pig-pen. The Verbus family has observed that during heavy rains, water contaminated with fecal matter drains under their fence and into a small creek.  Chuck Humel / Chronicle

When country meets the city
LORAIN COUNTY ADAPTING TO CHANGE
Relocating to county townships stocked with joys and challenges
Adam Wright
The Chronicle-Telegram

Don’t worry, it’s just a cow.

And that? It’s a combine. It’s used to help make your cereal.

City folk, these are just a few of the things you’re going to learn when you pick up and move to the country.

The spirit that spread Clevelanders into the suburbs has been affecting suburbanites for the past few decades, especially in Lorain County, where residents in Elyria, Lorain and other cities have decided to move into the townships.


Source: The Ohio State University Extension Office[/color]

http://www.chroniclet.com/2006_Archive/10-06-06/Daily%20Pages/100606head10.html
Pig-pen dispute has neighbors squabbling in Columbia Township
Adam Wright
The Chronicle-Telegram

COLUMBIA TWP. — If she were a wolf, Dorothy Verbus would just blow the pig-pen down.
But she’s not, and she’s exhausted all her resources.

Propped up against a wooden fence that separates her property from her neighbor’s is a wire pen that on any given day could contain up to three 300-pound pigs. And Verbus said she can smell every one of them.

http://www.chroniclet.com/2006_Archive/10-06-06/Daily%20Pages/100606head10.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/11/06 PD:


Bypass to reduce traffic snarl on Ohio 83 at Chester Rd.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
V. David Sartin
Plain Dealer Reporter

Avon -- By the end of the year, a traffic nightmare at Ohio 83 and Chester Road might disappear.

A new road opening soon is expected to reduce backups and start a series of improvements that will reroute vehicles from Ohio 83 around a problem spot just north of Interstate 90.

The new road, yet to be named, will be extended north toward Avon Lake from Chester Road, steering traffic clear of a new commercial area near the highway.
 To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
dsartin@plaind.com, 216-999-4043

By the numbers
1,000 an hour: Cars and trucks that pass through Ohio 83 and Chester Road during peak times.
$1.1 million: Cost to Avon for the new road.
$500,000: Amount landowners will pay.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/1159864323159270.xml&coll=2

From the 10/7/06 Lorain Morning Journal:


Amherst sets sights on new site for Target
JENNIFER BRACKEN, Morning Journal Writer
10/07/2006

AMHERST -- The city of Amherst may be home to a Target after all.

After plans for a commercial center with a Target store on Cooper Foster Park Road fell through in May, Matt McGill of Amherst Land Development LLC approached the city with another potential site.
 
McGill said yesterday the company plans to develop a 36-acre site at SR 2 and Oak Point Road, with Target being the anchor store. He has worked with Target officials on a separate project, and they expressed interest in working with him in the Amherst area, he said.
jbracken@morningjournal.com

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17296853&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=566374&rfi=8

[Vulpster03]

That traffic situation at Route 83 and I-90 is absolutely horrible. I don't think this bypass will help at all.

[buckeye1]

All this does is move the traffic snarl 800 feet farther north, which hopefully moves the backup off the freeway offramp.   The original plan was to create a nice curved extension to tie into original 83, instead of this disaster, with the same two turns within a few hundred feet that exist now.  But it makes some valuable land just north of City Hall for some fast food crapholes.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 10/12/06 Lorain Morning Journal:


Avon reveals renderings of proposed police station
MEGAN KING, Morning Journal Writer
10/12/2006

AVON -- Avon City Council's Safety Committee last night saw nearly finalized plans for the city's proposed $5.2 million police station, slated to begin construction this spring.

The station will house the city's growing police force and be a part of a larger government complex on Detroit Road, which will eventually house a new city hall and possibly a post office in addition to the city's fire station.
 
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17316817&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=566374&rfi=8

[Vulpster03]

Hmm, I don't remember off the top of my head where the current police station or post office is located. The consolodtion of the police station, post office, and city hall on the land just east of the fire station is a nice attempt though to create a town center. The site for these departments is on the major commercial road; Detroit and directly between the historic commercial district (French Creek), and the newer strip malls and big box developments (Avon Commons). 

Still, Avon is in desperate need of smart growth for commercial and residential development. I'm from Avon lake, just north of Avon and it is painfully obvious to me what could have or what should have been done to prepare for "smart" development in Avon. But Avon is really on a death spiral right now. Even Avon Commons (a First Interstate Property) that was the first major retail/commercial development, wasn't that bad of a design. But since then, all these little strip malls and outparcels along detroit and now Chester of all places have been sprouting up in a very stupid way. It is looking more and more like North Olmsted - which I consider to be the poster child in the west side suburbs for pathetic planning and development, because everything has developed in a way that leaves little room to salvage anything if changes were to be made down the road. It screams blight in twenty years.

But besides Avon's lack of proper planning, the development and growth here is really just a loss for Cuyahoga, and not a gain for the region.   

[buckeye1]

Avon's current police station is the 1950's era town hall on the north side of Detroit in front of the little league fields between 611 and Ridgeland Drive, next to the old fire station-turned-senior center.  The current post office is on the south side of Detroit between Wisteria and Garden Drives, next to the vacant Medic Drug.  I hate the post office, which has all of 7 parking spaces and is impossible to get in and out of.  The nice big parking lot at the vacant Medic next door is conveniently barricaded off, too!  I usually go to Westlake if I have to go to the post office.  If I recall correctly, Avon Lake's post office isn't much better than Avon - isn't it a little storefront behind the old movie theater, with a parking lot that hasn't been redone in about 50 years?

[buildingcincinnati]

From the Sun, 11/2/06:


Issue 18 campaign is quiet
Thursday, November 02, 2006
By Mary Davies
The Sun

AVON - Weeks ago, leaders of the Avon Citizens Committee 2006 thought they might have on their hands an ugly campaign battle against developers protesting a proposed charter amendment.

To the committee's surprise, no one distributed literature, posted signs or bought newspaper advertisements encouraging residents to vote against Issue 18, said Tim Bresnahan, spokesman for the 10-month-old political action committee.

The proposed charter amendment would require voter approval of most requests to rezone residential land south of Interstate 90.

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1162490125102410.xml&coll=3
From the 10/27/06 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:


New YMCA not coming to Amherst
Bette Pearce
The Chronicle-Telegram

AMHERST — The YMCA of Greater Cleveland will not locate a facility in the former LISN telecommunications building at Leavitt Road and Park Avenue, but it still hopes to have a presence somewhere in Amherst Township.

Audra Kessler, spokeswoman for the Cleveland YMCA, said the building would not be appropriate because the Y would have to occupy the second floor. The Cleveland Y still is looking for another suitable location in the township, she said.

http://www.chroniclet.com/2006_Archive/10-27-06/Daily%20Pages/102706head9.html

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 11/22/06 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:


Traffic study to determine need for new road
Adam Wright
The Chronicle-Telegram

AMHERST TWP. — Local officials are trying to plan for an expected explosion of retail growth by studying whether it makes sense for a road to link state Route 58 and Pyle-South Amherst Road.

The proposed road — even though it’s in the early stages of planning — already has a nickname, “the 58 corridor,”’ Trustee Dennis Abraham said.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Daily%20Pages/112206local2.html
From the 11/9/06 Sun:


New campus facility is still planned by CHP
Thursday, November 09, 2006
By Kim Guffey
The Sun

NORTH RIDGEVILLE - Community Health Partners' plan for a multi-building facility on Chestnut Ridge Road is still in the works, despite sweeping layoffs throughout the company, a spokesperson said.

The Amherst-based health organization bought about 25 acres of land at Chestnut Ridge Road and Route 10 two years ago with the intent to build a health campus within a year. Financial uncertainty delayed plans, but spokesperson Jennifer Kennedy said the company hopes to begin work on the complex by 2008.

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1163095108252630.xml&coll=3

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 12/7/06 Lorain Morning Journal:


3,700 new homes in the pipeline
MATT SUMAN and ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writers
12/07/2006

ELYRIA -- The residential growth of Eaton and Carlisle townships is resting on a plan to build sanitary sewers to serve potentially about 3,700 new homes and include 1,300 existing homes, according to a plan by the Lorain County Rural Wastewater District submitted to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.

The plan also said it anticipated an ''immediate pattern of growth similar to North Ridgeville,'' once the area is sewered by the district, also known as LORCO, according to the EPA. The townships are working on 19 potential development deals for 3,761 houses which are contingent on sewers, according to James McDonnell, chairman of LORCO's board.
http://www.morningjournal.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=17566103&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=566374&rfi=8
From the 11/28/06 Lorain Morning Journal:


Lowe's to anchor shopping center
Morning Journal Staff
11/28/2006

AVON -- Lowe's home improvement store is set to be the anchor tenant for a new shopping center coming to Avon at Center and Chester roads, according to the city's planning coordinator, Jim Piazza.

The shopping center, called Avon Crossing, is being developed by the Jacobs Group, and will be built on more than 35 acres. No other tenants for the center have been announced, according to Piazza.
 

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17519663&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

[buckeye1]

Suit filed to take Shoreway property
From THE PRESS 1/17/2007

Sheffield Lake
By John Edwards

Content edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use - no link available

[buckeye1]

Content edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use - no link available

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 1/17/07 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:


N. Ridgeville to get medical facility
Fairview Hospital expects construction to begin in late March
Bette Pearce
The Chronicle-Telegram

NORTH RIDGEVILLE — The growing population in and around North Ridgeville has created a need for more medical services, and Fairview Hospital is answering the call.

Fairview, a Cleveland Clinic hospital, announced plans Tuesday to build a 20,000-square-foot medical building on a 7-acre site at Interstate-480 and Lorain Road in North Ridgeville.

The two-story facility will house offices for physicians, along with on-site imaging and laboratory services.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Daily%20Pages/011707local2.html
From the 1/18/07 Lorain Morning Journal:


Avon OKs growth at Crossing
MEGAN KING, Morning Journal Writer
01/18/2007

AVON -- One proposed shopping center got a go-ahead from Avon Planning Commission last night, while questions were raised about the development plans for another.

The Planning Commission approved the general development plan for stores and restaurants for the proposed Avon Crossing shopping center at SR 83 and Chester Road. The anchor store will be Lowe's.
 

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17725063&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6
From the 12/28/06 Sun:


Lorain Morning Journal: Officials hope to expand Avon High (12/21/06)

High school expands
Thursday, December 28, 2006
By Mary Davies
The Sun

AVON Once winter weather breaks in spring, so will grounds at the high school.

Plans are to build about 67,000 square feet of classroom space, expand the music education area by 9,000 square feet and construct approximately 7,000 square feet of wrestling practice and weight-training facilities.

"We are almost doubling the size of the high school," said Superintendent Jim Reitenbach.
 
http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1167328311270320.xml&coll=3

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 1/25/07 Sun:


Lorain Morning Journal: Avon Lake to be new home for Danco Metal (12/5/06)

Avon Lake lands Danco Metal
Thursday, January 25, 2007
By Kim Guffey
The Sun
 
AVON LAKE A longtime Westlake company will pull up roots and move to Avon Lake later this year.

Crews are moving dirt at a Moore Road lot near Pin Oak Parkway in preparation for construction of a new hub for Danco Metal Products. The custom sheet metal fabricating company has been in Westlake since 1946.

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1169747551227960.xml&coll=3
From the 1/21/07 Elyria Chornicle-Telegram:


EPA fines, penalizes Avon developer
Shawn Foucher
The Chronicle-Telegram

AVON — The developer of a 44-acre residential subdivision in Avon has agreed to pay $87,000 in fines and submit to various mitigation and cleanup as a result of numerous citations, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency reported.

Avon Land Group Ltd., developer of Vineyard Estates in Avon, was cited for numerous violations, including illegally filling 1.7 acres of wetlands and impacting more than 1,300 feet of stream, the EPA said in a statement.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Daily%20Pages/012107local4.html
From the 1/18/07 Sun:


Value fuels LCCC growth
Thursday, January 18, 2007
By Kim Guffey
The Sun

As the cost of earning a college degree inflates across Ohio, officials at a local college say they're committed to keeping learning affordable and students are responding.

The enrollment at Lorain County Community College in Elyria has more than doubled since 2000. About 10,700 students currently flood classrooms and online courses, compared to about 5,000 students five years ago.

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1169142995183210.xml&coll=3

[KJP]

"Obviously we're disappointed to see them leave. They need to expand and unfortunately they were offered some incentives that under state law we're not able to match," Clough said.

And that's why urban sprawl is state-sponsored theft.

[buildingcincinnati]

From the 1/25/07 Sun:


From trailers to offices
Hospital to build at site of former mobile home park
Thursday, January 25, 2007
By Kim Guffey
The Sun

NORTH RIDGEVILLE The former site of a dilapidated trailer park will soon hold a myriad of medical offices.

Fairview Hospital announced plans to build a 20,000-square-foot, two-story building on Lorain Road near Interstate 480. The hospital is affiliated with Cleveland Clinic, and a variety of services are planned for the new facility, including family practices, internal medicine and obstetricians, as well as on-site imaging and laboratory services.

Until last fall, a portion of the property housed 16 trailers as Gibson's Mobile Home Park. Residents found out in March that former owner Bill Gardner sold the property and they had four to six months to get out. Gardner sold the three-acre property to North Hero Land Co. owned by Gardner's daughter, Megan for $300,000, according to county auditor records. Developers of the new project are Sean Brady and Bob Campana or Brady-Cam, which previously worked with Fairview Hospital to develop a primary care site at Avon Pointe in Avon.

http://www.cleveland.com/sun/sun/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1169747007227960.xml&coll=3

[mrnyc]

something innovative!


LCCC's Entrepreneurship Innovation Center opening in April
By:MEGAN KING, Morning Journal Writer
01/28/2007

The college is currently building the 45,000-square-foot, $8 million center to house its Entrepreneurship Innovation Institute. Although some offices have already relocated there, the building is set to formally open in April, according to Marcia Ballinger, LCCC's vice president for strategic and institutional development.
 
The building will also be home to the offices of the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise, a partnership between LCCC, the Lorain County Commissioners, and the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce.

[mrnyc]

oy vey....when will it end? when the last farm is a walmart and a subdivision? where are these people coming from? there is no influx of people to ne ohio. its just more poaching from the inner burbs, the city and the outlying areas. i see where the local leadership is....all starry-eyed and short-term profiteering, but where is the governor's leadership and the state gov on all this? anyone know?


The region's newest bedroom community

Sunday, March 04, 2007
John CanigliaPlain Dealer Reporter

North Ridgeville -- For years, farm tractors rumbled down the roads here, symbols of the small community's rural economy.

Today, cement trucks and backhoes drive the streets and a construction economy is booming as they help build Greater Cleveland's newest bedroom community.

Over just six years, North Ridgeville has become one of Northeast Ohio's fastest growing cities. More than 2,700 new homes have been built -- more than in Cleveland or Akron. New residents say they are drawn to low taxes, fresh roads and utilities and the city's prime location near highways and western Cuyahoga County's upscale retail.   
 
The city, however, faces a tipping point, needing larger schools, more safety forces and a grip on growth that shows no sign of slowing down. Some question if it has happened too fast, whether the rural atmosphere is gone for good.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

jcaniglia@plaind.com, 800-683-7348

[MyTwoSense]

Gag me with a spoon already!

[Mov2Ohio]

Well, on the good side these people aren't leaving the region and may actually even be coming to it from other places. On the bad side...... everything else.

[Vulpster03]

The interesting thing about the article in print, was that in a box next to the article it showed something like the top 6 communities in Greater Cleveland for the number of new housing construction. The list was something like North Ridgeville, Avon, Cleveland, Avon Lake, and Akron. Its a shame that those suburbs are on the list, but pretty interesting to see Cleveland and Akron on the list. It also surprises me that Avon Lake is on the list, because it seems like growth has slowed down a lot compared to what it was 10 years ago, although the Legacy Pointe development (still in progress) will be the largest single development in Avon Lake when completed.

[buckeye1]

Vulp -
I can think of several subdivisions under active construction in Avon Lake - they just are on the fringes of the city now instead of all along Walker Rd which exploded with growth 10 yrs ago.  Krebs Rd has gone from farms to subdivisions in the last 5 years, with Hunt Club and Bridgeside; they're still building in Westwinds (and Legacy Pointe is going to be bigger than Westwinds?); there's those cheap townhouses on Walker by the power lines (Powdermaker Creek), all the townhouses by the tracks on 83 (Wildberry), Waterside Crossings between Walker and Webber (conveniently next to that chemical plant at PolyOne), some smaller Gamellia subdivisions (Piccolo Place, Ventanas) and the Aqua Marine re-development is also starting to sell.  Seems like a lot more condos/townhouses under construction now, whereas 10 years ago it was almost all single-family homes.

As an aside, I have a friend that lives in the Wildberry development - I love the directions to her townhouse, which go something like "turn right on Ryeberry, right on Wildberry, then right on Ashberry, left on Lindsberry"  What the hell's a Ryeberry or a Lindsberry?  I guess nobody wants to live on Strawberry Lane or Blueberry Drive?  You're already living in a subdivision named for a Seagram's wine cooler!

[Mov2Ohio]

The interesting thing about the article in print, was that in a box next to the article it showed something like the top 6 communities in Greater Cleveland for the number of new housing construction. The list was something like North Ridgeville, Avon, Cleveland, Avon Lake, and Akron. Its a shame that those suburbs are on the list, but pretty interesting to see Cleveland and Akron on the list. It also surprises me that Avon Lake is on the list, because it seems like growth has slowed down a lot compared to what it was 10 years ago, although the Legacy Pointe development (still in progress) will be the largest single development in Avon Lake when completed.

I don't remember what years, but Cleveland was number one in new construction in the region for a few years since 2000. In some hidden pockets of the city you can find many homes not yet 10 years old.

[Vulpster03]

buckeye - I'm familiar with all those developments you mentioned. I've lived in Avon Lake since I was born in 85, so I've witnessed everything. There isn't a subdivision and builder I haven't heard of. Even though Avon Lake continues to build, I was really under the impression that other communities like those in Medina County had surpassed Avon Lake in construction. It just surprised me to still see Avon Lake so high up there. Legacy Pointe will span from Lear Road to Rt. 83, and is supposed to have more homes than the West Winds.

[MyTwoSense]

buckeye - I'm familiar with all those developments you mentioned. I've lived in Avon Lake since I was born in 85....

You were born in 1985?  Oh God I feel old. 

[mrnyc]

aquamarine has been redeveloped? really?

redoing that rat-pack/jet age/flamingo kid era joint is actually a good thing. wasnt it all closed up for years?

is there a link so i can see it? thx.

[buckeye1]

mrnyc -

Here's the link: http://www.kopf.net/AM.aspx

The old hotel complex has been torn down, but the bowling alley remains on site for some reason.  The hotel had fallen into serious disrepair and mulitple code violations since the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi bought it.  Redevelopment was controversial in Avon Lake because tax abatement was offered, even though the schools were asking for new levy money.  But you know in Avon Lake, what Bucky Kopf wants, Bucky Kopf gets.  I believe they salvaged an old stained glass window of a mermaid and donated it to Avon Lake's library.

There is a new entrance off Lake Road west of Miller.  They have either kept the golf course or are rebuilding it, along with recreation facilities.  Pictures of the clubhouse look like it will appeal to the geriatric community - there's a library, a ballroom, a "card room", and no pictures of the pool or fitness center.

[peabody99]

north ridgville is so depressing. I have never been, but truthfully it sounds aweful-all those outdated Ryan homes on poorly drained land. I hope I can remain anonymous here, but many of the people I know of that moved to "ridgeville" are no prize anyway (no asset to Cleveland, as they trashed it) . It will be a dumpy burb in no time at all. No diversity at all, just minimally educated whites hoping to buy the biggest hunk of crappy house for their money and trying to pretend they are in westlake (which by the way is no compliment)

[Jax]

I have a very good friend that moved into one of these ex-farmland developments in North Ridgeville. It pains me to drive to his house.

It reminds me of Agrestic from the show Weeds..

The themesong for the show is dead on

--

"Little boxes on the hillside...
Theres a green one & a pink one
And a blue one & a yellow one
And they are all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same. "

Except there's no hillside. Or trees.