Stow planners postpone Miller’s Landing decision to late September amid challenge
A vote on final plat approval for the proposed Miller’s Landing development has been delayed until Sept. 26.
At the Tuesday meeting of the Stow Planning Commission, Law Director Jamie Syx announced that commission and City Council have been sued by a group of residents seeking to halt the Pulte Group from moving ahead with plans to build a 45-home subdivision called Miller’s Landing on North River Road between Saratoga Boulevard and Marsh Road.
Opponents met twice last week to discuss the development. On Monday evening, they filed the lawsuits in Summit County Common Pleas Court. Their request for a temporary restraining order to prevent Tuesday night’s meeting from occurring was denied Tuesday afternoon.
“The lawsuit is for declaratory judgment,” Syx said.
The suit requests that the court declare that Stow has abandoned four roads that were originally planned for the property in 1927 but never developed, so-called “paper roads.”
Syx made it clear that the lawsuit doesn’t accuse the Planning Commission or City Council of wrongdoing, saying it’s asking that the court offer a different interpretation of the zoning code and that City Council and the commission act on that interpretation instead.
“Any decision that you guys do or do not make today, the lawsuit should have no impact on that, and your decision will have no impact on the lawsuit,” she said.
A hearing date has been set for Jan. 23.
The commission had the option of approving or denying Pulte’s request for final site plan approval, or tabling the matter for 60 days to mull a decision. After 60 days, the development plan would go to council as though the commission had issued a positive recommendation.
Following a presentation from the Pulte team and testimony from residents, the Planning Commission voted to table the matter until its Sept. 26 meeting. Parks board representative Christi Sheets was absent from the proceedings.
Sticking points
A Pulte presentation at Tuesday’s meeting attempted to address concerns about the development, but residents were largely unreceptive. The company’s team called the efforts to block the development “reckless” and based on emotional argument.
Residents object to language describing the cul-de-sacs required for the development as temporary, because there is currently no expectation that the adjacent land will be developed.
The city’s design standards stipulate that if further development is expected, an easement will be granted for a turnaround longer than 800 feet. However, any permanent cul-de-sac can only be 800 feet long. The cul-de-sacs listed for Miller’s Landing exceed that length.
“I’m going to be extremely clear: Nobody has come and talked about building any houses on this property,” Planning Director Nathan said at a Feb. 14 planning commission meeting. But, he continued, if plans to develop the adjacent property materialize, the expectation from the city would be that a connecting road be built, eliminating the cul-de-sac.
Residents were also concerned about what they saw as a flawed methodology in the traffic study, and the safety of the development’s roads regarding access for emergency response vehicles and school busses.
Some residents conducted their own study by counting cars, their results varying significantly from what appears in Pulte’s traffic study completed by the GDP Group. Kevin Westbrooks, a traffic engineer with the GPD Group, said that there was more to a traffic study than just counting cars.
Concerns about stormwater runoff also featured prominently in resident testimony. And residents have questioned whether Leppo and a member of council have conflicts of interest as part of the decision-making process, citing potential family and workplace connections to the property’s seller. Leppo said he could not comment, citing the pending litigation.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Proposed Pulte development Miller's Landing meets with delays in Stow
