Lorain council advances Meister Road rezoning after public concerns about traffic and drainage

Lorain City Council on Tuesday introduced an ordinance to rezone three parcels at the former Meister Road Elementary (listed as 3301 Meister Road) from R‑1B to R‑2 to allow for attached, for‑sale townhomes and sent the item to a second reading after a motion to suspend the three‑reading rule failed.

The proposal, submitted by developer Tom Simon of RangeMax Properties, would convert the vacant school site into a planned development of attached single‑family townhomes intended for middle‑market homebuyers. City administration and engineering staff attended the hearing to answer questions.

The rezoning matter drew several residents to the podium. Santo Davila, who lives at 3411 Meister Road adjacent to the site, said he was “excited” about development but objected to plans that would close the south exit, saying Maestro/Meister Road residents “do not want that to not be an exit.” Harlan Loving and Diane Loving of Reinwald Road urged the council to consider traffic backups and construction noise if dozens of homes are built.

Tom Simon told the council RangeMax is proposing a product already under construction in the city’s Martins Run subdivision (Freedom Place). He said planning and engineering reviewed multiple site‑plan iterations and that the developer will build public streets and connect to Oxford Drive as directed; the developer also proposed a traffic barrier that permits emergency vehicles but discourages cut‑through traffic and said the company would consider a six‑foot privacy fence along Pickett to buffer neighbors.

City administration said the proposal previously went before the Planning Commission and that the developer supplied a traffic study by a regional consultant. Administration reported the traffic analysis concluded the development would not require additional turning lanes on Meister Road under current traffic projections and that engineering performed a comprehensive drainage review and identified multiple stormwater outlets; staff said certain localized drainage concerns raised by neighbors will be investigated further.

At first reading, a motion to suspend the three‑reading rule failed; council recorded six no votes, and the rezoning will return for a second reading. No final zoning decision was made at the meeting.

The developer and residents asked the council to allow further coordination on storm‑water details, mailbox placement with the U.S. Postal Service, and neighborhood buffering. Council members and staff said they would follow up with engineering and the developer and that further hearings would include any required plan revisions or conditions.