Middlefield Village Council moved the development of Heritage Pointe one step closer to reality June 12 by voting unanimously to annex 64.7 acres of open land from Middlefield Township.
Middlefield Village Council moved the development of Heritage Pointe one step closer to reality June 12 by voting unanimously to annex 64.7 acres of open land from Middlefield Township.
In April, Lake Avenue Land Partners LTD presented plans to the Middlefield Village Planning and Zoning Commission to build more than 200 homes on two parcels south of the Walmart Superstore at 15050 Herrington Drive, including an adjacent 14.49-acre parcel already in the village. Meadowlake Properties LLC owns both parcels.
During the April meeting, developer Joe Svete asked the commission to recommend to council rezoning the 64.7-acre parcel from residential housing to residential planned unit development, allowing high-density development there, once it is annexed and all permits are received.
Annexed land automatically comes into the village as R-1, single family housing, which requires larger lot sizes. The smaller parcel is zoned for R-1, as is a third, 0.97-acre parcel on Lake Avenue.
Following the annexation ordinance last Thursday, council held a public hearing to discuss a separate ordinance to rezone the larger parcel and the adjacent 14.49-acre parcel to R-PUD.
Linda Smallwood, who lives on Lake Avenue with her husband, Phillip, asked that council not rezone the entire 14.49-acre lot to R-PUD.
“I’m here to ask that the two parcels on Lake Avenue remain R-1 so it doesn’t become spot zoning and to protect the homes already there,” she said. “It’s not fair to the residents living there. They expect to be protected by zoning.”
The site plans presented by Svete show ingress and egress for Heritage Pointe off Lake Avenue with seven R-PUD lots lining it.
Smallwood, who said last Thursday she was representing other Lake Avenue residents, noted the entrance to the development would look “…a whole lot better if homes weren’t crammed in.”
“The site plan will not be approved for another month,” said Mayor Ben Garlich, adding he will talk to Svete about the Lake Avenue residents’ concerns.
On June 13, Smallwood said in a follow-up phone call she would like to see the seven lots planned for the entrance off Lake combined to create two R-1 lots, one on either side of the entrance road, adding she is not proposing a site plan change to the entire 14.49-acre parcel.
Several buildings on those Lake Avenue parcels were eliminated recently by a joint training event held by the Middlefield Fire Department and the Geauga County Fire Investigation Unit, according to MFD Lt. Ben Reed, who attended last Thursday’s meeting.
“We set four different fires four different ways. The FIU came out and did investigations on each simulation,” he said.
Firefighters set an electrical fire, a couch fire and two fires using accelerants an arsonist would use.
“One of the State Fire Marshal’s investigators brought his accelerant dog out (and the dog) was able to discover the accelerants quickly. It was a great training,” Reed said.
In other business last Thursday, council authorized the village administrator to apply for a water supply revolving loan account agreement to plan, design and build water facilities. Garlich said the loan is for $2.4 million.
