Neighbors ask city to block plan to turn Highland Square mansion into hotel, microbrewery
A proposal to convert a historic mansion and carriage house into a hotel and microbrewery at the western edge of Akron's Highland Square area has sparked opposition from neighbors who say it will be a bad fit for the community.
Several residents spoke out against the plan for Twin Oaks Estate at last Monday's Akron City Council Planning Committee meeting, citing noise, lighting, traffic, parking congestion and safety among reasons to block the redevelopment. The property, also known as Carkhuff House, was built in 1917 along a stretch of grand homes belonging to top executives of Akron's once-booming rubber industry.
City Council could vote as soon as Monday on whether to allow the project to move forward.
Jaime Delapaz, the lessee of the property at 1221 and 1225 W. Market St., recently filed the plan with the city seeking to give the site a commercial makeover. The first floor of the mansion would be used for premium dining and event space, while lodging for guests would be available on the second floor. In what planners describe as a "high-quality, low volume" eatery, the restaurant would serve breakfast in the morning, "while in the afternoon and evening the space would be prepared and used as a limited, white tablecloth restaurant establishment featuring European recipes prepared by a renowned chef." There would also be a large back patio used for outdoor dining.
The adjacent carriage house would be repurposed into a microbrewery with an indoor and outdoor restaurant.
Neither Delapaz nor Alan Burge, the project architect, anticipate any changes or additions to the exterior of the mansion, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
"When I saw this property empty and how beautiful it is inside, I saw a brilliant opportunity based on how the property looks and where the property is located, I thought it was a good opportunity to create something," Delapaz said. "I'd be proud if I could make this work — just creating something that hasn't been created yet is something that is a passion to me, and it's an opportunity to give back to the community,"
Akron residents say plan will spoil their corner of Highland Square
The mansion's immediate neighbors include Highland Square Rehabilitation and Nursing Center (previously a ManorCare facility) and Akron First Assembly church and preschool to its east and the former estate of Harvey Firestone Jr. to its north. Across Market Street are the campus of Our Lady of the Elms and the Dominican Sisters of Peace as well as the Ohio Living Rockynol retirement community. Georgetown Condominiums and nearby Portage Country Club sit across Twin Oaks Road from the site.
Several people who spoke Monday live along streets just to the east of the site; they said the planned establishments could lower their property values and route unwanted activity through the neighborhood..
Neighbor Elizabeth Kishton said public safety will be compromised, with mapping apps potentially sending drivers down residential streets going to and from the inn and microbrewery.
"This traffic and alcohol consumption of drivers coming and going ... directly affects us (neighbors)," she said. "We have about 25 children who live (on our street) and many more grandchildren who come visit, and this puts their lives at risk."
"Our family, our community, our neighborhood's welfare should not come second to lining a few people's pockets. Adding another alcohol establishment right there in a residential area with schools and nursing homes and everything else, (it's just) not safe."
Lisa Sarkis, another neighbor, believes that even though the idea of the microbrewery and restaurant "sounds conceptually lovely," the proposal to convert the property is "fundamentally unsound."
"Putting a microbrewery and a bar — or however upscale this place is going to be — I think it's wrongheaded; it's irresponsible, frankly. Noise is going to be a factor in the neighborhood, with this being an outdoor establishment."
Jeannette Foster said she recently polled people who live in the vicinity and "an overwhelming almost 90% of our neighbors disapprove this particular petition."
"The majority of the surrounding area is residential, and we need to protect and respect the homeowners of this region," Foster said.
Architect Alan Burge says Highland Square brewery won't be disruptive
Burge, the project's architect, said special attention is being paid to preserve the site's historical spirit and to limit the potential of its operations upsetting the neighborhood.
"We want to use and celebrate the architecture that's there, and do something beautiful (with the site)," he said, explaining that the restaurant "is not going to be a high-volume thing; it's going to be something that is going to really use the architecture and the site largely in its existing context."
In plans filed with the city, its backers say converting the mansion and carriage house to a limited retail establishment with a restaurant and inn "should not have any negative impacts." They say traffic will not be directed through or disrupt the surrounding residential neighborhoods, and the number of guests on-site will be limited — "so the impact of noise and light upon adjacent properties will be minimal, if at all."
Burge said he believes approval of the plan "will give this property its best chance for some investment right now that otherwise probably wouldn't happen."
The mansion was built for Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. Treasurer Stacy G. Carkhuff in 1917. In the years after Carkhuff's death in 1945, various companies, including the Firestone Foundation, occupied the site.
Abigail Drennen, the only neighbor to speak in favor of the proposal during the public comment portion of the Planning Commission meeting, said it would be a boon for the city.
"I think it's a great opportunity for this historical building to have new life; my biggest thing is that I'm hopeful it doesn't get torn down," said Drennen. "Far too often, a lot of our historic buildings get torn down or fall to disrepair.
"I understand the concerns that some of my neighbors have about traffic congestion and noise, but I honestly think that it's farther away from the residential areas than people realize, and I think it's good that it'll bring more people to Highland Square," Drennan said.
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Location, lack of notification upset opponents of Akron microbrewery
Summit County Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt, a resident of the neighborhood, said there are better places to set up microbreweries than the selected spot.
She said microbreweries such as Hoppin' Frog — in a more industrial part of Akron's Ellet area — aren't suitable for residential neighborhoods and could have further impacts on infrastructure such as the sewer system.
"I also really value the solitude in my backyard, and I really don't want it to be impacted by other people enjoying themselves in a way that will negatively impact our neighborhood," she said.
Meghan Lugo, an assistant professor at the University of Akron who co-led a recent citizen effort to try to block a new residential development off White Pond Drive in West Akron, also lives near the mansion. She said the city does a poor job of communicating with neighbors who would be affected by projects that it is asked to approve.
"It echoes some of the issues with White Pond in that neighbors were not adequately notified with enough time to make their voices known at the Planning Commission," said Lugo. "Many neighbors who would be affected were never notified because the city's rules/laws do not require they be notified. I for one found out from word of mouth among my neighbors."
Reporter Anthony Thompson can be reached at ajthompson@gannett.com, or on Twitter, @athompsonABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Plan for microbrewery at Akron mansion upsets neighbors
