A very time-critical item has come up that demands our attention. The Board was asked by the city of Cuyahoga Falls to meet on Friday, June 7th at 4 PM. We met the director of community development, Diana Colevecchio and Rob Kurtz, Planning Director at the Cuyahoga Falls City Hall building. All five members of the Board attended.
The City is considering a request to change the zoning for four parcels adjoining and to the south of Boulder, circled in orange below. The land is currently zoned MU-1. As it was explained to us in the meeting, MU-1 indicates mixed commercial and residential (like, the "French MIll" near State and Bath roads, south of us), with commercial on the first floor and residential above. MU-1 can also mean just plain commercial - like a Dollar Tree, a hardware store, or a restaurant, or a small strip shopping center.
A prospective buyer has an option to purchase the properties, but would like for Cuyahoga Falls to switch the zoning of this land to RM, or fully residential, similar to Hidden Lakes, with the potential for single family detached or single family attached housing. If they can get this change, they would likely exercise their option to buy this land and develop it for residential use. It is not a very large piece of land, about 5 acres. The builder has submitted some very preliminary drawings, suggesting 7 or 8 buildings, with between 24- 32 units, planned to be , in the $500K price range per unit. They are a reputable builder the City has worked with before.
The City is asking for our input on whether we would support or oppose this change, since it would impact our neighborhood. As an aside, at the same time the parcels were re-zoned a portion of our neighborhood (circled in pink) would also be rezoned to fully residential.
The board is looking for input as to what the members of the Boulder Subdivision HOA members consider the best option, among these two:
1) Tell Cuyahoga Falls we are OK with changing the zoning of that land to RM, clearing the way for it to be developed as strictly residential.
2) Tell Cuyahoga Falls we are NOT OK with the zoning change, which could lead to that land being sold to someone who would develop it as commercial or mixed commercial/residential.
Two things to consider:
Whatever goes in to this plot of land, would probably have an outlet and sidewalks into Boulder Drive - this could be the case in either the commercial or residential scenario.
The other parcel of land - the one on State Rd between Hidden Lakes and Boulder Drive, where all the trees have been cleared recently, is also MU-1 zoned, and is expected to have some shops - though no proposals have been given to Cuyahoga Falls yet, so it's unclear what that will be. Nothing we can do about that one.
This is the first step in the development of the properties. As we hear additional information over time we will continue to share.
We've been asked to give the city an answer before Friday (6/14), so we need your input in the next few days. Contact any of the board members if you want more information or details, and to let them know where you stand on this issue. There will be a listening session on Wednesday June 12th between ~6 and 8 PM at 143 Quartz. You can stop by there and provide your opinion. Ultimately the Board will then come to a consensus regarding the plans and let the City know our stance.
Sincerely
Rick Parker, President; Eric Skinner, Secretary; Myron Cybyk, Treasurer
Jessica Hardy, Board Member at Large; Tom Ptacek, Board Member at Large
