At the end of the day, the Sisters have a vision for Geauga County and we should applaud them for it. Frank Gliha
For many older residents of Geauga County who want to downsize, the idea of a senior housing development in Munson Township sounds like a dream come true.
For some future neighbors, it is looking more like a nightmare.
For the Sisters of Notre Dame, the project, which would cover about 43 of the 500-acre campus on Auburn Road, answers a need with a practical solution (See sidebar).
And for Munson Township Trustees and the township board of zoning appeals, the mixed-housing proposal represents a balancing act between the development plans of the Sisters of Notre Dame, the township’s zoning resolution and the concerns of neighbors.
Those concerns came to a head at the June 16 BZA meeting when a number of the neighbors showed up in response to letters from the zoning department.
The notices, dated June 3, 2016, informed about 20 property owners that Gordon Petznick, the builder of the proposed senior housing development, had applied for eight variances for the open acreage south of the fenced-in campus.
The proposed map showed 25 “cottages” consisting of two living units each, a three-floor apartment structure and a memory care facility on the parcel that is now largely a former hayfield with a house and a pine grove on Auburn Road.
“We were blind-sided by this,” said Cindy Cesen. “We all went to the meeting. We were all there to question the variances.”
Marie Fill lives on a cul-de-sac on a lot that backs up to the parcel being developed.
A few days after the hearing, which was continued until July 21, Fill said she doesn’t like the idea of homes and a 57-foot-tall apartment building so close to her property.
According to the notice, the application for the building was denied because the zoning resolution limits structure height to 35 feet. That variance denial included the information that the structure would include no living space above 28 feet.
Another variance request was to place one of the two family units less than 200 feet from Fill’s back property line. The notice reads: “No building or structure shall be located closer than 200 feet from any other lot line.”
The footprint of each of the buildings she called duplexes measures 53 feet 5 inches by 111 feet 9 inches, or nearly 6,000 square feet, including a garage for each unit.
There were six variances requested. If approved by the BZA, the variances would allow construction between two feet and 46 feet closer to property lines than allowed in the zoning code.
“Many things were alarming,” Cesen said, adding the presentation was less than informative.
The proximity to Notre Dame Cathedral Latin and Notre Dame Educational Center at 13000 Auburn Road is also a concern, Cesen said.
“It seems odd to put the buildings on a school campus. I would worry about the safety of the children,” she said.
The acreage is currently zoned for institutional use, said Munson Township Trustee Andy Bushman, and according to the information on the county auditor’s website, is untaxed.
The 43.5-acre parcel was transferred to the Sisters of Notre Dame in December 1995. The website lists the sales amount as $0 and the value at $317,000. Because the property belongs to a religious organization, it is tax exempt.
In 1995, the sisters also acquired another 5.5-acre strip of wooded land to the south of the first parcel abutting several cul-de-sac properties at the end of North Bridle Trail and Paddock Road. Those streets are connected to Auburn Road by Bridle Trail Drive.
Bushman said he was present at the hearing, but didn’t participate in the open discussion. He estimated 20 to 25 residents were there for the development variance hearing and seemed to be primarily concerned about the height of the apartment structure planned for independent living, variances requested along the southern property line and the effect of street lights on neighboring properties.
Nuns from many other locations retire at Notre Dame, and there is a demand for housing for them, he said.
The existing living quarters on the campus are very modest and might be converted to something more comfortable, he said.
A memory care facility is included in the plan to house individuals with Alzheimer’s disease or senility, Bushman said.
The parts of the development that are not agricultural, educational, church- or hospital-related will be subject to taxes, Bushman said, but he didn’t know how much acreage that included.
Additionally, because residents who drive will enter and exit onto Auburn Road, the county engineer probably will do a traffic study, he said.
However, the apartment building, housing units and memory care center will be accessed off a private road, which means minimal cost to the township, Bushman said, adding the private wastewater treatment plant used by the church and school has plenty of capacity for the proposed increase.
How much the development will yield in property taxes won’t be determined until the structures are complete and occupied, said Geauga County Auditor Frank Gliha.
“There will be taxable locations,” he said, specifying the duplex rental units.
Gliha, a Munson Township resident and former township trustee, said the Sisters of Notre Dame are planning to provide a much-needed facility for the order and the community and older residents ready to downsize come to him often asking how they can stay in the county into their golden years. The senior housing will help the nuns as well as the residents, he said.
“The Sisters of Notre Dame have nuns all over the world who are ready to retire. They need somewhere to go,” he said. “At the end of the day, the sisters have a vision for Geauga County and we should applaud them for it.”
