Burton Residents Voice Concerns On Hillside Village Project
Residents along Bigelow Road in Burton Township voiced their objections Nov. 26 to the residential development of more than 30 acres next door.
Residents along Bigelow Road in Burton Township voiced their objections Nov. 26 to the residential development of more than 30 acres next door.
Property owner and developer Dan Demko responded to their concerns during the Burton Village Board of Appeals and Planning Commission hearing on the Hillside Village project.
He also said he was concerned about the Army Corps of Engineers approving the environmental engineer’s report before Dec. 24.
“We need it before 12/24 or we’ll lose the project,” he said in a follow-up text Nov. 30.
During last Tuesday’s hearing, Demko’s neighbor, Ray Kaufman, who lives on Bigelow Road, which straddles the village-township line, spoke during the public comment portion of the BZA hearing.
“This is right in my backyard. I’m against it,” he said after Demko presented the preliminary plan, asking for variances to begin building in the spring. “I don’t know what it will do to my property value. It’s literally 60 feet from my property.
He and neighbor Mary Ann Hawkins said they never received certified letters informing them of the BZA meeting.
In the packet of information related to the hearing was a copy of the certified letter of notification dated Nov. 6 to be mailed to everyone who has property adjacent to Hillside Village acreage.
The list of those addresses was offered to Kaufman and Hawkins.
“That property (to be developed) is next to my house,” Hawkins said. “The noise from construction will probably be unbearable. My main concern is lighting. The light from Preston (Auto Group parking lot) shines in my bedroom window at night.”
Demko assured her no street lighting is planned for the private roadways.
“We don’t plan on having street lights — just lights in mailboxes. I get the same light from Pat (Preston) that you get,” he said, adding he will look into putting up a dirt mound to protect neighbors on Bigelow.
“We’ll be moving a lot of dirt,” he said.
Demko’s home is on one of three parcels slated for development.
Kaufman said he wanted to know how the plan will impact his own property and lifestyle.
“We aren’t going to bother those people — our privacy is being invaded. I’m sure you will do whatever you want, anyway. I’m just saying what I’m saying,” Kaufman said.
Jacqueline Samuel, speaking for a friend who lives on the other side of Bigelow, was concerned about potential trespassing on her friend’s 35 acres of woodlands.
“If the houses are sold to families, there will, hopefully, be lots of kids. Is it possible you could put a fence up so those kids don’t come play in the woods, which is fairly attractive?” she asked.
Demko replied he would look into it.
“I think everyone has empathy with Bigelow residents, but a property owner is entitled to develop his property,” said village attorney Todd Hicks, who attended the meeting.
He added the zoning of the parcels already permits residential development.
Samuel also asked about the cost to the village of maintaining the roads and plowing snow.
Hicks said the roads are planned to be private and will be managed by the Hillside Village homeowners’ association at no additional cost to the village.
The BZA unanimously approved variances dealing with a reduction in side-lot and front-yard setbacks.
Years in the Making
Demko’s development has been in the works, in one form or another, for years.
In 2019, he filed to have his parcels in Burton Township annexed by the village. The annexation was finally approved after a lot of political wrangling and the creation of a joint economic development district.
At that time, Demko planned to develop and manage an independent senior living community.
Five years later, demand and funding for privately-owned homes has grown.
According to his application for a zoning certificate, the one-story houses will have one, two or three bedrooms ranging in size from 1,004 square feet to 1,860 square feet.
During the hearing last Tuesday, he estimated the cost of a one-bedroom home will be $195,00, a two-bedroom home will be $280,000 to $300,000 and a three-bedroom home will be $325,000.
An average home in Burton Village costs about $185,000, Demko said.
Plans include two homes per concrete pad. The HOA will maintain the grass and there are plans to create dirt mounds and landscaping along Kinsman Road to keep traffic noise down, he said.
Two of the three existing buildings on the west side of the property will be used for meetings and some of the land surrounding them will be used for recreation, Demko said.
The pond will be stocked for fishing and land to the south is in a nature conservancy, he said.
Following the BZA hearing, the village planning commission approved Demko’s plans to have natural walking trails around the community and one leading to Rapids Road rather than build sidewalks along Kinsman Road.
Infrastructure for sewer, water and electricity will all be underground and Demko said he plans to install underground dog-control fencing around each yard.
The streets throughout Hillside Village will be built to the Geauga County Engineer’s Office specifications, he told the commission.
Demko noted the ACE will determine his chances of breaking ground in the spring of 2025.
“Our fate now rests with the corps and they are up to their eyeballs with requests,” he said. “If we are lucky, we will get the corps to approve (the study) before Christmas.”
