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Fairlawn Council OKs development of busy site

6/21/2012 - West Side Leader
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By Sean Patrick

Giant Eagle planning GetGo station at West Market, Trunko intersection

Fairlawn City Council approved the location of a Giant Eagle GetGo station at the corner of Trunko Road and West Market Street, shown at left, June 18.
Photo: Maria Lindsay
FAIRLAWN — An ordinance authorizing Mayor William Roth to enter into a development agreement with Giant Eagle Inc. for the addition of a GetGo at the corner of Trunko Road and West Market Street was approved during the June 18 Fairlawn City Council meeting.

The project passed by a 4-3 vote, with only a “simple majority” needed to pass the legislation, Roth stated. Council members James Butler (Ward 1), Barbara Potts (Ward 2) and Kathleen Baum (Ward 6) voted against the project, while Council members Russ Sharnsky (at large), Bryan Nace (Ward 3), Susan Sullivan (Ward 5) and Philip Brillhart (Ward 4) voted in its favor.

Roth said the project previously received final approval from Fairlawn’s Planning Commission.

“With the acceptance of the bid tonight, a preconstruction meeting will be held sometime next week,” he said. “So realistically, construction of the road itself will start sometime in late July or early August.”

One of the city’s requirements was that Giant Eagle would have to add a turn lane on Trunko Road heading north, which would widen the road.

Speaking out against the project at the June 18 Council meeting was John Adams, who is a U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio judge, but who was speaking as a Fairlawn resident.

“I mean no disrespect, but simple common sense would dictate that this is not the proper location for this kind of station,” he said. “We already have traffic issues in that general area … it is a dangerous intersection to begin with, and to place this gas station in that location will only increase the dangers to the general public.”

Adams called the project “adverse to the public’s interest.”

“Once that station’s located, once those tanks are there, once that traffic pattern is put in place … it is something that cannot be undone,” he said. “I strongly encourage you to give due pause and due consideration before you put in place this legislation.”

Roth said the city took all traffic issues into consideration while in negotiations with Giant Eagle.

“We’re very cognizant of the traffic issues, but they are paying for traffic improvements,” he stated. “Everything our traffic engineer asked for, they agreed to and they’re paying for.”

Nace said he was opposed to the project when it was “first proposed last summer.”

“I had a lot of the same concerns about traffic — everyone knows it’s a bad intersection,” he said. “But Giant Eagle, over time, came around and did basically what we asked them to do. There’s only so much you can do with that intersection, and at some point that parcel’s going to develop. Giant Eagle’s really bent over backwards to do the best that they can with that site, and they’ve agreed to put up money to make improvements at that intersection. It won’t solve all of the problems, but it will make it certainly better than it is today.”

Butler said it is “a lousy project.”

“There was a pancake shop there for years, a flower shop there for years, and I’m sure that the property would have been available for another retail shop where people could’ve come in to buy whatever wares they were selling,” he stated. “But to have all of that activity, all those pumps, at the second busiest intersection in the city is a bummer all the way around.”

Roth said putting a gas station in that location wasn’t his first choice, but added that it was “the best that we could do.”

“It’s been a blighted building for over four years. It’s been vacant for whatever reason, and it’s not a good building,” he said. “It’s going to be taken down, and the environmental issues will be totally remediated. Plus, it will bring additional jobs to the city.”

According to the mayor, the business will be a gas station with a mini-convenience store.

“The building and land use fits it,” he said.

Following approval of the ordinance, Council voted to accept the bid of Liberta Construction Co. Inc. as the lowest bidder for the Trunko Road widening project and authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract for $259,256 and appropriating the necessary funds.

The measure was approved 6-1, with only Butler casting a dissenting vote.

Also during the meeting:

• Assistant Finance Director Patricia Bertsch said the results of the city’s 2011 audit came back clean.

“There were no citations for the city’s bookkeeping and no recommendations for changes,” she said. “So everything is in order.”

Sharnsky applauded the city’s finance department for a “fantastic job.”

• Zoning, Housing and Residential Building Commissioner Christopher Randles said Fairlawn’s Planning Commission will have a special meeting June 28 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall to “review the final set-up points for the Schulman move.”

As previously reported, A. Schulman has begun plans to move its corporate headquarters from its current location at 3550 W. Market St. to the corner of Ridgewood and South Cleveland-Massillon roads in the new Fairlawn Corporate Park. The move is scheduled to take place in 2013. Roth said A. Schulman has committed to staying at the new site for a minimum of 15 years.

If the Planning Commission approves the site plans, the mayor stated, City Council likely will schedule a special Council meeting to vote on the issue.

• Roth said he received a letter from the Summit-Akron Solid Waste Management Authority thanking the city of Fairlawn for acting as host for a document shredding and recycling event June 9 at the Fairlawn Service Department.

“At this document-shredding event, 427 Summit County residents and businesses attended, recycling 22,711 pounds, which is 11.4 tons, of unwanted documents and 600 pounds of cardboard,” the letter stated. “As always, it is a pleasure working with the city of Fairlawn.”

The minutes from the June 4 City Council meeting were unanimously approved.

Council will begin its summer schedule next month. The next regular Council meeting is set to take place July 16 at 6:30 p.m. at Fairlawn City Hall, 3487 S. Smith Road.

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