Developer seeks community entertainment district for Valor Acres; council directs law director to draft ordinance

Attorney John Neal told Brecksville City Council on March 4 that VA Vesta 2 LLC has applied to establish a state-authorized community entertainment district (CED) for the Valor Acres development, a roughly 71.6-acre mixed-use site in the city’s southern corridor, and that the CED would make up to 14 additional full-service (D-5J) liquor permits available to businesses located inside the district.

The CED “creates a pot of liquor permits to the side of your existing quota,” John Neal said. He explained those permits are issued by the Ohio Division of Liquor Control and “never and cannot leave the boundaries of that CED.”

The proposal, presented by Neal and developer Kevin Deidreno of Deidreno Companies, is intended to help attract restaurants, a hotel and a grocery tenant by removing a key market barrier: Brecksville’s standard D-5 quota is currently exhausted. Neal said the city’s quota is based on population and that, without a CED, prospective tenants often must buy an existing permit on the open market or seek a transfer (a “Trex”) that can leave the city’s control.

Why it matters: Proponents said the CED will make the Valor Acres project more competitive for national and regional operators, lower the time and cost for those tenants to obtain on-premise liquor authority, and therefore increase the likelihood of higher-end restaurant and hospitality tenants. Opponents and several council members raised concerns about concentrating liquor-serving uses in the city’s south end and about how control over which operators actually hold permits would operate in practice.

Key facts and process steps - Number of permits: Neal said the proposed district would allow 14 D-5J permits (the “J” designation indicates issuance as part of a community entertainment district). He said the CED boundary size—about 71.6 acres—dictates that allotment. - Boundaries and permanence: Neal said permits issued inside the CED are tied to the district and “will never even get applied for” outside the boundary; once issued, they cannot be moved outside the CED. - State role and application flow: Licenses are issued by the State of Ohio (Division of Liquor Control). The state will notify the city of applications and the city retains its statutory right to object and to review background checks, renewals and other enforcement actions. - Eligibility category: Neal said the application falls under the state’s J-6 category, which he described as a municipality with at least 10,000 residents and at least $70 million of projected investment; Neal said Brecksville’s population on the quota list is 13,850 and the development is projected at roughly $111,000,000 in investment. - Local controls: Neal and Deidreno said landlords typically control which tenants can occupy space and that local planning approvals (zoning/occupancy) and the city’s right to object provide additional checks. The city’s law director and the mayor said they had reviewed the application and that those controls made them comfortable recommending the process move forward. - Timeline and votes: The law director advised council that the state process and local timeline create a 75-day window and that state law requires a five-vote affirmative council action for this kind of designation. At the March 4 council meeting the motion to instruct the law director to draft an ordinance establishing the CED passed in council (5 yeas, 2 abstentions); the law director and clerk indicated council is likely to vote on the ordinance on March 18.

What council members asked and what proponents said Council members pressed on the number of permits that would be needed in the near term and how many would apply to the phases already under construction; developer Kevin Deidreno estimated the first block would likely need about four permits for restaurants and event/office space and said the project could need 8–12 permits as it leases out. He estimated a daytime population “3,000-ish, give or take” once the buildout and Sherwin-Williams employment are counted.

Council members also asked whether the landlord could hoard or reassign permits and Neal said that while a property owner could be the initial applicant, the state requires a licensee to be an operator with rights to the premises (own or lease) and the city will receive application disclosures and background checks. Neal said the practical gatekeeper is the landlord’s control of leases and the city’s approval processes.

Law department and mayoral review The city’s Law Director (name not specified in the record) recommended the council set and recover an application fee to cover administrative costs, reminded members of the five-vote threshold required under the state framework and advised council to schedule the statutory public hearing and vote within the required 75-day window. Mayor Kingston said he and staff had done due diligence and cited the controls—planning approvals, background checks, and the statutory limits on CED permits—as reasons for his recommendation.

Remaining issues flagged in the discussion Council members asked for additional clarity about: how many permits will be needed in immediate phases versus later phases; whether the proposal would alter patron patterns or downtown vitality; potential future requests for a DORA/outdoor service area; and whether the city should retain the option to amend the CED area or permit counts in future. Neal said amendments are possible but would follow the same statutory process.

Where this goes next Council voted to instruct the law director to prepare the ordinance establishing a community entertainment district and to present it at the next council meeting. The law director and clerk said notices the ordinance requires have been started and that the formal public hearing and council vote are likely to fall on the March 18 agenda.

Ending Council members thanked the presenters and directed staff to draft ordinance language and a recommended application fee schedule for the next meeting so public notice and the statutorily required steps can proceed.