Developer compromises on project in Perrysburg

4/6/2005

A new design for a proposed business park along Roachton Road in Perrysburg might satisfy developers and Perrysburg Heights residents who want to preserve their neighborhood.

"There might be room for compromise," Councilman Tim McCarthy said at a council meeting last night.

Oak Valley Development wants to create a business park and multi-family residential development on a 100-acre site on the southeast corner of Roachton Road and State Rt. 25. The developers requested two zoning changes to allow a different configuration for the business park and housing.

Council yesterday approved changing about 13 acres from planned business park zoning to R-5 residential zoning.

The other requested change, which has generated controversy, is on hold. The developers want to switch some land along Roachton from R-5 residential to planned business park zoning.

More than 70 residents attended a council committee meeting Monday to protest the change. They said that both sides of Roachton should have residential zoning to act as a "buffer" for the Perrysburg Heights neighborhood, located just north of the road.

After more than three hours of discussion, the developers offered a compromise. They said they will submit a new site plan that preserves a strip of residential zoning along Roachton. The land would not contain buildings, but would be mounded and landscaped.

"It seemed to satisfy everyone, but we need to see it on paper," Rick Thielen, the city's planning and zoning administrator, said.

Mr. Thielen said council committee members hope to review the new plans at a meeting April 20.