The University City Planning Commission voted Thursday to recommend that the City Council approve consolidation of multiple parcels into two lots for the John Carroll University Gateway North project, and referred the finalized consolidation to the council meeting on Monday after a 4-1 roll call.

The consolidation covers a group of contiguous properties along Milford and Warrensville Center Road, including 2574, 2590, 2596, 2602 and 2614 Milford and 2595, 2599, 2603, 2609 and 2619 Warrensville Center Road, with the parcel numbers read aloud during the meeting. The commission’s recommendation will go to the City Council for final action, the commission chair said.

The vote followed questions about a separate, newly purchased house at 2613 Warrensville Center Road that the applicant closed on June 1, 2025. John Carroll University’s representative, Mr. Swaddell, told commissioners the university has not yet determined a use for that house and expects to study options with the city and the community before returning to the planning commission. "We have not yet had time to plan for what we're doing with that house," Swaddell said. "We do not want a house around the parking lot." He added the university will not change the previously negotiated number of parking spaces tied to its anchor tenant without further approvals.

Michael Christophe of Vocon, the project designer, said the team had incorporated comments from the Architectural Review Board and studied truck turning radii and driveway alignment. "All of the questions that were asked about at the architectural review board, we did incorporate all of the comments that we could," Christophe said.

Several commissioners said they are open to the consolidation because the requested lot changes are consistent with the site plan the city previously approved. Commissioners also pressed the applicant to return with a plan for the newly acquired house if it is to be demolished or repurposed; the applicant acknowledged that demolition or a change in use would require a future, separate application to the planning commission for site-plan or demolition approval.

The motion to approve the consolidation passed on a roll call: Mayor Brennan (Yes), Miss Irvin (Yes), Mr. Reicheck (Yes), Mr. Casey (Yes) and Mr. Wright (Nay). The chair said the recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council meeting on Monday.

Next steps outlined at the meeting: the applicant will continue design work and community dialogue regarding the 2613 Warrensville Center Road parcel and will return to the planning commission if it seeks demolition or a site-plan amendment for that parcel. The commission’s action on Thursday was limited to recommending consolidation of the parcels explicitly listed in the application and did not change the previously approved site plan for Gateway North.

A full list of parcel addresses and parcel numbers for the consolidation was read into the record during the meeting and is available in the planning commission packet.