Bainbridge Township Trustees gave Meijer’s final development plan proposal the green light March 24 during their regular meeting.
Bainbridge Township Trustees gave Meijer’s final development plan proposal the green light March 24 during their regular meeting.
Trustee Jeff Markley said Assistant Zoning Inspector David Dietrich worked with township legal counsel, Tom FitzSimmons, on the proposal’s conditions.
Meijer — which is set to open three stores in Northeast Ohio in May, according a press release — must obtain Ohio Department of Transportation approval for an entrance off state Route 43 for construction vehicles and guarantee no vehicles will use the undedicated Big Dipper Road, Markley said.
The road must be completed and dedicated before the department store can be occupied, Markley said.
“Since we don’t have access off of Big Dipper Road, it’s been closed off and we don’t want the trucks or construction equipment coming all the way around Depot Road onto a portion of the undedicated Big Dipper Road into their site,” he said. “They need to come off of (Route) 43 so as not to beat up our roads and they’ve agreed to do that.”
Trustees also want Meijer to provide the sewer and water easements from Aurora, as the city of Aurora and Bainbridge share the joint economic development district created in 2020, according to Markley.
JEDD allows the communities to share income tax and designates Aurora to provide water and sewer services.
Once these conditions are met, the trustees said they will issue a zoning certificate.
“I predict October is when our road will be dedicated,” he said. “That’s my prediction because they’ve got a long lead time on the traffic and the signal lights.”
Construction for Meijer is set to begin in April.
Also during the meeting, trustees swore in officer Kailey Gavanditti to the Bainbridge Township Police Department.
“I think our group of guys and gals we have right now is probably the best we’ve ever had and I think she will add to that,” said Chief Jon Bokovitz. “So, I’m really happy to have her join the crew, and we’ll get her going first thing tomorrow morning on keeping the streets safe.”
