Developer says prosecutor's refusal to sign is delaying Eaton Woods Phase 2 plat

Bob Yost, a developer and Elyria resident, told the April 30 joint public hearing that the Lorain County prosecutor's office has "refused to sign pending a meeting with Eaton Township Trustees," leaving a plat for Eaton Woods Phase 2 unsigned and delaying a potential buyer and construction.

Yost said Phase 1 of the development had been processed two years earlier despite being part of the same judicial decree, and he said the current refusal is preventing a pending purchase and investment. Planning Commission member Richard Knechtges and Carl Wesemeyer referenced the 2019 judicial agreement related to the development and noted differing past practices. Greenspan characterized Yost's concerns as "irrelevant," while Commissioner Jeff Riddell said the prosecutor's office should be encouraged to expedite a meeting so Yost is not harmed "unnecessarily." Clerk Theresa L. Upton later spoke with Assistant Prosecutor Perales, who indicated there had not been a recommendation vote to proceed to the next special meeting until the Clerk's procedural clarification; the Clerk reopened the hearing to allow the Planning Commission to act.

The hearing record shows no further statement from the prosecutor's office in the transcript. Yost said he has money in the ground and a builder who wants to buy the property; the prosecutor's office position and the specific legal basis for the current refusal were not recorded in the transcript and remain unresolved in the hearing record.