Council approves preliminary site plan for Mayfield Road retail building

Mayfield Heights City Council voted to approve a preliminary site plan for a proposed retail building at 5901 Mayfield Road, the site of the former CVS, during its March 24 meeting.

The vote followed a presentation by Ben Chhnacki on behalf of the property owner, The Landis Group, and architect Tommy Chestniss of Onyx Creative. Chhnacki said the owners received prior approvals in April 2024, then revised the plan after litigation with a neighboring property and are now seeking preliminary approval to proceed with final construction drawings. “We received all the final approvals in April of 20 24,” Chhnacki said as he summarized the project’s history and changes.

The plan approved by council is for a single retail building fronting Mayfield Road and an attractive, all-brick design that the architect said will read as part of a cohesive retail campus with the existing CVS building. Chestniss described the building materials and glazing and said the design intentionally aligns the color palette and pedestrian connections with the CVS building to create crosswalks and a connected retail experience.

Council discussed site details including shared parking easements and signage that may encroach over property lines. Chhnacki told council the property shares reciprocal parking access with the neighboring parcels; he said the owner intends to pave and improve the on-site parking. Councilmember Kevin Balestreya raised concerns about visibility and about whether neighbors had been shown the revised plan; Chhnacki said the changes had not been shared directly with the neighboring property and noted there is ongoing litigation involving the site.

The motion — introduced as “a motion to approve the preliminary site plan for a new 5,500 square foot building for the CVS property redevelopment located at 5901 Mayfield Road” — was moved by Mr. Balestrella and seconded by Miss Talbot. Roll-call voting recorded six yes votes (Medic, Manno, Balestreya, Sabetta, Talbot, Snyder); no no votes were recorded and the motion carried. The applicant and architect emphasized this approval is preliminary and will be followed by architectural board review and final engineering review before construction permits are issued.

Clarifying details in the record include a discrepancy in the transcript about building size: the motion text called the building 5,500 square feet while the applicant’s presentation later referred to a 5,000-square-foot retail building. The size will be finalized during subsequent plan-review steps and in final permitting.

Next steps identified by staff and the applicant include addressing Architectural Board of Review comments, resolving the monument-sign location and any easement issues with adjacent parcels, completing final construction plans, and returning for final council sign-off if required. No construction schedule was specified at the meeting.