The Buckeye Chocolate Café, an intimate and favorite restaurant in Chardon, will be expanding its facility following Chardon Planning Commission approval Aug. 17.
The Buckeye Chocolate Café, an intimate and favorite restaurant in Chardon, will be expanding its facility following Chardon Planning Commission approval Aug. 17.
The first phase of the plan to add 753 square feet to the building at 510 Water Street was presented to the commission by Ann Corbo of LS Architects, Fairview Park.
Devotees of the upscale, informal eatery may be relieved to learn Buckeye’s owner plans to reconfigure the crowded parking lot, as well.
Community Development Administrator Steve Yaney told the commission the first phase would provide more space for cooking and for refrigeration coolers.
“They are going to keep using the existing kitchen. The addition will be for production of food and chocolate and coffee,” Yaney said, adding there are plans to update Buckeye’s drive-through to make it more efficient.
The improvements should help the locally-owned operation compete with the Starbucks being built around the corner, said commission Chairman Andy Blackley.
Buckeye has a production facility on Berkshire Industrial Parkway in Middlefield and purchased the building in Chardon on 0.72 of an acre in 2018.
In 2020, Buckeye bought 0.44 of an acre adjacent to the café’s back property line. That parcel has a driveway at 209 Cherry Street and connecting the two in phase two will improve traffic flow and provide better parking, Yaney said.
“When they add on the parking lot, they will upgrade the drive-through,” he said. “The staff has no problem with this.”
Neither indoor or patio seating will be increased with the updates, he said.
Commission member Mary Jo Stark recommended different plantings than listed.
“I’m glad to see this expansion. I know they are busy,” she said.
Stark suggested more height variety in the landscaping plan and a native grass that will hold up to traffic and salt.
The commission unanimously approved phase one.
They also approved renovation of the Carter Lumber store at 467 Center Street by its new owner AgPro Real Estate Investments, of Boston, Ga.
The 6.53-acre parcel was bought in July by AgPro and Ben Gingrich, a principal with HSBarch, of Cleveland, presented drawings of the proposed exterior renovations.
“We’ll be working to make some improvements to the front façade,” Gingrich said, adding installation of new windows along the front, setting up two display areas for John Deere and other makes of equipment and repainting the fascia brown along the top will be positive changes.
“I think a little bit of accent will go a long way,” Gingrich said.
The plans are within zoning restrictions, Yaney said.
The site, just west of Walmart, is zoned for industrial use so landscaping needs to meet a lower threshold than in a commercial area, but the company will be exceeding requirements, he said.
“Right now, there’s very little landscaping — a couple of bushes and a tree. (This) is definitely going to be a significant change,” Yaney said.
However, Gingrich said AgPro plans to leave two trees and a landscaped bed in front of the building.
“They’re really trying to spruce the building up. AgPro wants the yard to look nice,” he said. “It feels like it’s a bit blighted now.”
