Westland Area Commission

April 15, 1998

The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm. Present were

Daniel Province, chairman, Betty Balthaser, Hank Canello,

Ginny Frank, Mike Hurd, Glen Hymer, Dorothy Jantzen, Brian

King, Tom Morris, Jan Province, Bob Rinehart, Debbie Wilder,

Gary Wills, and Ted Wotring. Billman, Cooper, McCormick, and

Saxton were excused. Also present were Jeff Brown, Dori

Sippial, and others.

Revised copies of the February minutes were distributed.

(Several comments had been ascribed to Hymer, who was not

present at that meeting. This has been corrected). March

minutes were not photocopied in time for this meeting. They

will be distributed at a later date.

Zoning Committee (Saxton): Province introduced Jeff Brown,

attorney for the applicant, the sign company hired for Regal

Cinema at Georgesville Square. The original plan for signage

at that site would have been allowed under the old code.

However, under the new graphics code, which went into effect

at the end of November, they have to take this plan before

the Graphics Commission.

The cinema is a brick and stucco building. At the main

entrance, there is the theatre marquee, and above that is an

art deco tower. They need a variance to put the lettering

for "Regal" on the tower.

There will be two wall signs, one on each side of the

building, and there will be lettering on the marquee, listing

the movies that are playing, but the main identification sign

for the theatre would be on the tower.

The tower has already been constructed. The theatre is

scheduled to open in mid-May.

Brown thanked Province for scheduling a special WAC Zoning

Committee meeting, and then adding this item to the WAC

regular meeting's agenda at the last minute. The variance is

scheduled to be heard at the May Graphics Commission meeting.

That meeting will take place on the second Tuesday of May.

The Westland Area Commission meets on the third Wednesday of

May, several days later. If they could not get approval by

the Graphics Commission in May, they would not be able to

have the graphic on the theatre at the time of the grand

opening.

Province questioned the lighting level of the graphics on the

sides of the buildings. The signs on the sides of the Lennox

theatre are extremely bright.

Brown said that the letters are neon. The wall is just

stucco, and there is no additional lighting on the wall.

Province said he is concerned about stores in the shopping

center citing this as a precedent, and wanting additional

signage on the roof of the strip mall.

Brown said that the new graphics code states that anyone who

wants to place graphics above the roofline has to go through

the public process. Also, while he is aware that several

restaurants have extended their walls up, in order to do

that, in this case, this look is not a second thought. It is

the look of their theaters. It is an architectural feature,

not just an extended wall for the purpose of sticking a sign

on.

The area is bright as a result of parking lot lights, and

ODOT has installed highway lights at the interchange. There

is a neon band across the front of the building, but Brown

does not know whether it will extend around the sides of the

building. He doesn't think so.

Balthaser asked how high the tower extends above the

roofline.

Brown replied that it is about 35 feet. From the top of the

tower to the ground is 60 feet. Remember, though, that the

theatre sits about as far back from the freeway as possible.

Are all the lights facing the shopping center and the

freeway?

Brown replied that the theatre is at an angle to the freeway.

The front of the theatre faces the overpass bridge.

Does the variance include the side wall signs?

No, it deals only with the lettering on the tower.

Province asked whether they can have the tower without the

lettering.

Yes.

Wills asked whether there is a 60 foot maximum height limit.

Yes, and the other major signs in the shopping center are 60

feet tall. Obviously, the freeway interchange lights are

taller than that.

Province asked whether Brown will be back, asking for a free-

standing graphic.

Brown said he can never say he won't come back. However, as

part of the discussions when they did the graphics plan for

the other major signs, one of the conditions was that the

theatre parcel would not have a free-standing ground sign.

We are not revisiting that.

Rinehart said that there are two major stores in that mall,

Lowe's and Kroger. Kroger has a big, blue horizontal sign.

He can't remember what Lowe's has.

Brown said Lowe's just has their usual sign package. It is

across the front of the building. He can't remember the

color of it.

Rinehart said that lighted signs are not out-of-the-ordinary

out there. It's just that this sign will be vertical instead

of horizontal.

Yes. The shopping center does not have a flat roofline. It

is a brick shopping center, and they have little triangles to

break up the facade. There are wall signs on the fronts of

Lowe's, Kroger, and the theatre, and there are three major

free-standing signs, one at Georgesville, one on the corner,

and one in front of Lowe's.

Wills asked whether the signs on the sides of the building

are neon, also.

No. They are neon, but they are covered with plastic

lettering, so that you don't see the individual neon lines.

It is neon lighting behind the plastic.

Province asked why a sign is needed on the east side of the

building.

Brown said that the angle of the building in relation to the

freeway makes it impossible to see the front sign from a

particular portion of the freeway. Lowe's and Kroger have

signs facing in that direction.

Canello asked whether this isn't the same thing that Auto

Zone wanted--signs on the sides and the front.

Province said they wanted signs on three sides of the

building as well as a free-standing graphic. Auto Zone

already had free-standing graphics on each side. That's why

we fought them. It was a different issue. However, that is

the reason that Province asked whether there were plans to

erect a free-standing graphic in this case. If they do

advance such a plan, we will fight it.

Brown said that a theatre is a destination. This is their

corporate image. There will be another theatre built at

Brice, and Brown will probably be asked to handle that one,

too. This plan is very consistent with what you see with the

Marcus in Pickerington, the AMC at Lennox.

Rinehart moved to accept this issue on behalf of the WAC

Zoning Committee. J. Province seconded. Approved.

Canello moved to approve this issue on behalf of WAC.

Jantzen seconded. Approved.

Recreation and Open Spaces Committee (Wills): Province said

he attended a meeting Tuesday morning, of the Parkland

Dedication Ordinance Committee. They formed a Land

Acquisition subcommittee. It may become a permanent

committee of the Recreation Commission. They are trying to

set up a mechanism whereby a developer can buy shares of a

park, by setting money aside. When they have enough shares,

they can build a larger park, rather than having to build

two-acre parks adjacent to each small development.

The developers and real estate people are in favor of this

plan. Province is hesitant, as he sees it as prolonging the

wait until a park can be built. If the land is acquired,

what guarantees can be obtained from City Council that the

park will be developed, and not just sit as an undeveloped

parcel for years?

Wills asked whether we have a representative on the Land

Acquisition subcommittee.

Province said he is a representative on the Parkland

Dedication Ordinance Committee. He is not a member of this

subcommittee. The committee is made up entirely of lawyers

representing developers. City Council appointed them.

Wotring asked whether money generated in our area will stay

in our area.

Province said the parcel has to be within a one-mile radius

of the development. This can be expanded. If there are

several parcels, a location can be picked that is equidistant

from all of them. It has to remain in the district, however.

We were shown a map, in which the city was divided into 28

districts. Our district is approximately the Westland area.

The money has to stay in the district.

Wills asked whether this plan will be mandatory for

developers.

Province said yes, for each new rezoning.

Wills said that large tracts of undeveloped land in Westland

have already been zoned. This ordinance should have gone

into effect ten years ago.

Province said the city just annexed 158 acres at the

northwest corner of Hall Road and Galloway Road.

That's the Catterly farm.

Province said the ordinance does require money from rezonings

to commercial designations, too.

The Parkland Dedication Ordinance will be heard by the

Neighborhood Review Committee, the last Tuesday of the month.

Then, it will go to the Development Commission, the second or

fourth Thursday in May, and then in June, it will go before

City Council.

Community Relations Committee (Balthaser): Borror is now

developing the final phase of Westchester. It is to the

south of Green Countrie Park, and west of Hardesty Heights.

There will be 73 new homes built there. They started today

to level land for interior roads.

Province said that the developer promised to create a pathway

into the park.

Balthaser said she asked the city to come out to meet with

her to discuss stormwater runoff. Their stormwater will

drain into Hardesty Heights, and there may be flooding

problems.

Historic Preservation Committee (Cooper): Province said that

plans are being made to hold a party to celebrate the

erection of the historic marker. We hope this can be

accomplished before the end of the school year.

Election Committee (King): King reported that Balthaser,

Canello, Frank, McKay, D. Province, and Saxton are running

for re-election. The only new candidate is Carol Makar.

Another person obtained petition forms, but did not submit

the required 20 signatures before the deadline.

Province said that McCormick's appointment will expire at the

end of this month. Balthaser moved to re-appoint McCormick

to his seat as WABA representative. Canello seconded.

Approved.

The election will be held on May 2, 1998, from 10:00 until

3:00, in the lobby of Doctors Hospital West. Province

distributed absentee ballots. It is still possible to run as

a write-in candidate. People interested in doing so should

contact Brian King.

Old Business: Province said that he cannot report much of

anything about the police, as he was not able to get a

straight answer from them. Everyone should know that a

portion of 10 Precinct was made 19 Precinct. They assigned

six cars to 19, plus the sergeant. That means that the

police assigned to 10 Precinct can spend more time in our

area. However, they will not tell us how much time, or how

many officers are currently assigned to 10. We know that 10

Precinct is understaffed. Nevertheless, this should help our

area. (Billman said, at last month's meeting, that police

response times are awful). Province asked whether the

creation of the new precinct will help response times, but

the police replied that they can't tell, as yet.

Province said he would like to see another split, but we will

take what we can get.

New Business: Wilder distributed copies of a Doctors

Hospital newsletter. The facilities at Doctors Hospital West

are overcrowded again. The new maternity center is full.

Therefore, plans are being made to add a medical building,

and to expand parking facilities.

There will have to be a traffic signal installed at the

intersection of Beacon Hill Road and Rome-Hilliard Road.

Traffic congestion is bad, especially on Wednesdays.

Balthaser said she had a near-miss there recently.

Province said we asked Traffic Engineering not to connect the

new subdivision's road to that intersection, but they did it

anyway. Beacon Hill Road is becoming a northern New Rome

Bypass.

Province said WAC will supply the hospital with a letter of

support, if needed.

Province said that WAC has been working very closely with the

hospital. It's wonderful news that the maternity ward is

operating at full capacity. We went to the meeting to

support it.

There is a state-wide committee that meets once a year, and

it decides how many hospital beds are needed in the state,

how many babies will be born in different areas, etc. The

representatives of Doctors Hospital had to sit down with this

committee and convince them that there was a need for

maternity facilities in this area. The committee disagreed,

saying that this facility will not be used to capacity for at

least ten years.

Balthaser said that Dr. Somani, who was very instrumental in

fighting the hospital, is no longer the head of the

committee.

Province said that Dr. Somani fought the hospital over the

elevator issue, too. The hospital wanted to install an

elevator that could be easily adapted for the later

construction of additional floors, during later expansions.

To tear out an existing elevator to install a new one that

can handle additional floors is very expensive. It is more

economical to plan ahead.

Dr. Somani argued against this idea, but the rest of the

committee saw the logic of planning ahead.

Wilder said that the ped unit is outgrown. They have had to

add on an additional wing, off to the side, on the fifth

floor, to accommodate the overflow with twelve more beds, and

right now every bed is filled. Between Christmas and New

Years, every bed in the hospital was filled.

The hospital is fortunate to have 384 volunteers.

Province said that the police and the hospital committee look

at the growth of this area from 1980 to 1990, and expect the

same growth rate to occur in the next decade. All the areas

that were zoned for apartments and other residential uses

before WAC came into being, will be developed and will

increase the population.

Balthaser asked how many people are living in each house or

apartment in this area.

Province said that the number of people per home has

decreased from 3.6 to 3.2. We think we see two parents and

two children in each house, but this isn't often the case.

It is incredible how many houses are being purchased by one

individual. There are cases where there were two people in

the house, but one died. Those factors keep the number low.

Province said he would still rather see houses than

apartments in this area.

Balthaser said that homeowners generally take responsibility

for their neighborhood. Dissatisfied renters simply move

away.

Province said that a lot of starter homes in our area were

purchased with variable mortgages with 3 to 5% variability.

It is now illegal in the state of Ohio to sell that package.

It causes situations where people buy a house at a very low

interest rate, and a year later the mortgage is increased by

2%, and a year later, it increases 2% more, and now the

people are being charged double the mortgage rate they had

when they bought the house. The people can't handle it, and

there have been a number of foreclosures in our area.

Developers use this against us, saying that this justifies

the construction of smaller houses. Actually, this should

reduce the demand for very cheap starter homes.

Province has been talking to Della Lambert, Gene Brockmeyer,

and other real estate agents, and they say that people are

buying the top of the line of houses offered in this area.

Galloway Ridge is a prime example. The developer originally

said that those houses would sell in the $105,000 to $125,000

range. The average selling price has been $157,800.

Therefore, they are building much bigger houses, but on the

same smaller lots. Eventually, the customers will be

demanding bigger lots, too.

King said that the development has curb appeal, with the pond

and white fences visible from West Broad Street.

Province said that we have been suggesting to each developer

that they do this, and that they install decorative street

lights, instead of cobra heads. Those lamps cost about $25

more per house, which is nothing to a developer; it gets

lost over a thirty-year mortgage. The developer can sell the

houses by their looks.

The recent rezoning for apartments on Holt Road will also

include those decorative lights. There will be a trail to

Georgesville Square, and there will be lighting along the

trail. We are hoping to convince developers and City Council

that we would like to see these small amenities throughout

the area. They bring the neighborhoods together. Little

successes like this don't get published in the newspaper.

Canello moved to adjourn. Balthaser seconded. The meeting

was adjourned at 7:45pm.