NEWS

City requiring open space, energy-efficient construction, 100-foot buffer from river and more for proposed Merriman Valley townhomes

Doug Livingston
Akron Beacon Journal
The entrance of the Riverwoods Golf Course and Driving Range on Akron Peninsula Road Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020 in Akron, Ohio.

Akron City Council is adding requirements for a controversial housing project in the Merriman Valley to address environmental and development concerns.

Planning and Economic Development Chair Jeff Fusco added five more stipulations Monday to a request by Petros Development Group to build 197 townhomes on the old Riverwoods Golf Course at 1870 Akron Peninsula Road.

In exchange for the conditional rezoning of the property from light manufacturing and commercial to residential, Petros would have to:

  • Set the townhomes at least 100 feet from the Cuyahoga River (up from 20 feet in the original proposal).
  • Use permeable pavers for the guest parking and trail parking lots.
  • Make 35 of the proposed 197 townhomes owner-occupied units (up from 28 in November and 20 in the original plan).
  • Maintain 53 of the total 76 acres as open space.
  • Meet national construction standards for energy efficiency through the use of highly rated insulation and other building materials.

Council will not vote on the revised development plan until at least Feb. 1.

“It’s taken a long time and a lot of discussion to get where we’re at today,” Fusco told the Beacon Journal. “Where we started and where we’re at today are totally different.”

More:Akron defends Merriman Valley housing proposal at Riverwoods as critics, Woodridge schools cry foul

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Following a favorable recommendation by the city’s planning department, Akron’s citizen Planning Commission endorsed the project in a 3-2 vote in November. At that time, the plan reflected months of back-and-forth with the developer and Mayor Dan Horrigan’s Office of Integrated Development.

When the plan reached public hearings before council, it met stiff opposition from a group of residents and local business owners who recently organized a “Preserve the Valley” campaign to block the sale of city property on nearby Theiss Road for another housing project. The city took requests for housing last year at the 45-acre Theiss Road lot and, after listening to the opposition, is now accepting plans for conservation through March 31. The mayor’s team will select the single best choice from either option.

More:Resident urges Akron to allow protection of Theiss Road property as natural area

More:Akron mayor seeks plan to conserve Theiss Road property

The Riverwoods Golf Course, unlike the city-owned Theiss Road lot, is on private property. Petros originally approached the city a year ago with a plan to build more than 700 walk-up apartments in multi-story buildings, Fusco said.

The original plan called for a grid-like pattern of intersecting roads. The current version includes curving streets with grass buffering new sidewalks from the roads and garages largely hidden from the street view, Fusco said. Petros has agreed to use more upscale materials — like shake siding and natural stone —  for the townhomes.

Where possible, Fusco said the development could be tweaked again to fit a master development plan for the Merriman Valley, which is being funded by the cities of Cuyahoga Falls and Akron.

Critics of new housing in the valley, including projects already approved by the city of Cuyahoga Falls, want all conditional use requests to wait until that master plan is complete. They also are urging the city of Akron to reconsider the 15-year, 100% tax break Petros would get on the new residential construction through the citywide tax abatement program designed to grow Akron's population by incentivizing new housing.

"Our biggest concern is that they didn’t address the CRA (Community Reinvestment Act) and the tax abatement, which I think is the public’s biggest concern that this is a regressive tax," said Shelley Pearsall, who was the driving force that spurred the Preserve the Valley campaign. "That’s the biggest disappointment is that there was no attempt to address that concern, at least at this stage in the process."

Pearsall and other local residents would like to see the city use the riverfront portion of the property as credits in a wetland bank, as one option for generating public revenue while minding conservation.

State law requires the preservation of wetlands. Developers who build on a wetland can buy credits by preserving wetland elsewhere, like in the Merriman Valley. The city of Akron would get compensated by the acre, which some want used to fix nearby roads (like the torn up Akron Peninsula Road) or to fund public improvements tied to the Riverwoods property.

"I feel like they addressed some cosmetic things but did not attempt to tackle the tougher issues we brought in," said Pearsell. She said abatements benefitting the developer "pit taxpayers against each other." Families who would move into the Riverwoods townhomes would be assigned to Woodridge Local Schools, which would educate their children but get no new tax revenue from the construction for 15 years.

“Waiting for the master plan, we realized that wasn’t realistic, it was desired,” said Andrew Holland, a local resident with Preserve the Valley.

Preserve the Valley Brief on Riverwoods | Taxes | Property Tax

Holland calculates the tax abatements, which were not extended to two nearby housing developments in Cuyahoga Falls, will save Petros $13 million. "We think it’s really corporate charity," said Holland, who would rather see the taxes collected and put toward extending sidewalks, improving traffic, a parking lot for river access and more.

Petros has agreed to return 45 acres of former golf course property at Riverwoods to its natural habitat and deed the land to the West Creek Conservancy. Plans are in place for a pedestrian bridge over the river and a mile-long public trail, though funding for the long-term preservation of the land is not yet secured.

The proposed townhomes would not be built within 100 feet of the protected Cuyahoga River in a slice of land that sits on a flood plain. Fusco told his colleagues on council Monday that the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in 2020 advised that proper planning and responsible development can mitigate or eliminate potential environmental harm to the river.

To that end, Fusco has asked city engineers to help him prepare an ordinance that would inform future development along the Cuyahoga River by outlining setbacks and development standards to safeguard the river and its ecosystem.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.