Bath approves revised settlement with North Fork
By Anne Dennée
BATH — Bath Township is inching closer to finalizing a proposed settlement to a protracted legal dispute with North Fork Properties.
The battle centers around 8 acres of property located along Cleveland-Massillon Road just north of Gasoline Alley restaurant.
The most recent case regards North Fork’s desire to construct a 17,695-square-foot office building on the parcel, which is zoned Residential. Bath’s Board of Zoning Appeals denied North Fork’s request for a zoning variance.
North Fork subsequently filed two appeals regarding the issue, one in the 9th District Court of Appeals and one that was transferred to federal court.
In early February, Bath’s Board of Trustees announced that a proposed settlement, which would end all legal action, had been reached. Then, after two public hearings and receipt of additional oral and written feedback from residents, the board approved a revised version of the settlement during an executive session held after its regular meeting March 5.
According to the proposed settlement,
Bath would pay North Fork $112,500 over five years in
return for what Bath’s
legal counsel Robert Konstand calls a “permanent
conservation easement” on the 8-acre property.
The easement would be created through deed restrictions
that would permanently prohibit commercial development
of the property. Only uses permitted under the current
Residential zoning classification would be allowed.
This means that North Fork —
or anyone who purchases the property — could still
build houses on the property, which contains five parcels,
or could apply for conditional uses already allowed
in residentially zoned areas, such as construction of
churches or schools.
Bath also would have the option
to purchase the entire 8-acre property for $312,000,
with credit given for payments made for the conservation
easement. The option would be available for 10 years,
and the price would be adjusted yearly to reflect inflation.
The revised version of the proposed
settlement that trustees approved specifies that the
option to purchase be exclusive to Bath for the first
five years, and after that it would be exercisable once
a year in January until 2016. If Bath does not exercise
its option during January of any of the final five years,
then North Fork is free to sell the property in the
remaining months. Any subsequent owners would be subject
to the conservation easement and deed restrictions prohibiting
commercial development.
A key part of the proposed settlement
includes terms related to an adjacent property. This
second property, located to the immediate north of Gasoline
Alley, is currently owned by Summit County, which has
been operating a sewage package disposal plant there.
The package plant is being decommissioned and replaced
by a lift station.
North Fork sold the package plant
property to Summit County years ago, and an approximately
1-acre portion of the property will revert to North
Fork once the package plant is decommissioned and the
lift station is operating.
The package plant property is
not part of any previous litigation. However, Konstand
said he was concerned that if North Fork regained ownership
of it, the township could face a legal fight over rezoning
this property.
The package plant property is
currently zoned Residential, but Konstand said it is
probably not well-suited for residential development,
since few people are likely to want to build a home
on top of a former sewage facility.
Konstand said if North Fork were
successful in rezoning the package plant property, this
could lead to a renewed legal challenge regarding the
8-acre property because
it would then be located adjacent to the Commercial
property.
The proposed settlement would
address these issues by permitting North Fork to build
a single-story, 3,000-square-foot building on the footprint
of the package plant. The building could be used for
commercial ventures such as offices or retail businesses,
although the parcel’s zoning classification would
officially remain Residential.
The building would have to comply
with the township’s design guidelines in all matters,
such as placement of parking, landscaping and signage.
At the most recent public hearing
Feb 27, residents were generally in favor of the proposal.
Several residents spoke in favor of the township acquiring
the 8-acre property for conservation and preservation,
especially since many see it as a gateway to the township.
Residents expressed concern that
if the property were developed in any way, especially
as a school or church, it would require a large parking
lot, and the water quality in the nearby stream and
the scenic value of the property would be affected.
One resident also noted that construction of a church
or school also would not contribute to the tax base
for the township.
Another resident raised a concern
about whether or not the basement of the 3,000-square-foot
building would be leasable. The revised settlement retains
the wording that allows North Fork to use the space
for either storage or leasable space.
Konstand said North Fork insisted
on this option since it originally wanted a two-story
building.
As of presstime, the fate of
the proposed settlement lay in the hands of North Fork,
which approved the first version made public in early
February, but had yet to respond formally to the revised
version approved by Bath trustees March 5.
On March 6, North Fork’s
attorney, John Slagter, of Buckingham, Doolittle &
Burroughs LLP, said that although he had not received
the final changes in writing yet, based on communications
with Konstand, the changes sounded acceptable to his
clients.
“It appears we have a settlement,”
Slagter said, adding that both the township and his
client had worked hard to reach a resolution and that
all parties will be better off because of it.
|
