Planning commission backs lot consolidation for John Carroll University Gateway North; questions raised about newly acquired house

The University City Planning Commission on June 13 recommended that City Council approve consolidation of multiple parcels for the John Carroll University Gateway North project, voting 4-1 to send the recommendation to Monday’s council meeting.

The vote advances a request to consolidate a series of Milford and Warrensville Center Road parcels into two lots for the Gateway North project. Commissioners and the applicant spent the bulk of the meeting discussing a house the developer recently acquired at 2613 Warrensville Center Road and what will happen to that property.

The consolidation request covers addresses including 2574 Milford (permanent parcel 721-05-024), 2590 Milford (721-06-018), 2596 Milford (721-06-019), 2602 Milford (721-06-020), 2614 Milford (721-06-021), and several parcels on Warrensville Center Road including 2595, 2599, 2603, 2609 and 2619 (parcel numbers cited in the record). The application, which the commission said is consistent with the previously approved site plan, had been tabled from the June 5 meeting and was taken from the table for today’s vote.

“Mister Swaddell, an applicant representative, said the team closed on 2613 Warrensville Center Road on June 1 and has not yet completed internal planning for the house. "We have not yet had time to plan for what we're doing with that house," he said, adding that the developer "does not plan on leaving the house there" but has not decided the future use.

Michael Christophe of Vocon, speaking for the project’s design team, said the applicant had incorporated comments from the Architecture Review Board and that truck turning radius and driveway geometry had been studied: "All of the questions that were asked about at the architectural review board, we did incorporate all of the comments that we could," he said.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on whether the newly acquired parcel would prompt changes to the approved site plan, parking counts or drive aisles. The applicant repeatedly said the approved site plan for the Gateway North project remains the basis for construction and that changes would require renegotiation with the contractor and the anchor tenant. "We are fully entitled. We have site work, permits," Mister Swaddell said. "We're moving forward." He added the developer intends to return to the planning commission for any demolition or site-plan changes tied to the house.

Planning Commission members said they wanted a clearer picture of what will replace the house if it is demolished. One commissioner said a vacant lot or an isolated house in a parking area would be poor urban design; another suggested the parcel might be appropriate for a small park, a bike box or an RTA shelter but said the applicant must study options and coordinate with the community.

The commission took two formal actions during the meeting. Commissioners voted to take the consolidation item from the table and then voted to recommend approval of the consolidation request to City Council. The roll call on the recommendation showed four votes in favor and one opposed; the motion carried and the commission’s recommendation will appear on the council agenda on Monday.

The discussion clarified several procedural points: the consolidation request aligns with a previously approved site plan; the Architecture Review Board’s comments were addressed in the resubmitted plans; and the developer must return to the planning commission for any demolition or substantive site-plan amendments affecting the house at 2613 Warrensville Center Road.

The commission did not approve any demolition or site changes for the house during the June 13 meeting. Commissioners asked the applicant to continue community engagement and to return with a concrete proposal if the developer pursues demolition or a redevelopment that alters the approved site plan.