A proposed new zoning code is moving forward in Cuyahoga Falls after the city’s planning commission approved it Tuesday night. The proposal includes changes based on citizen feedback.
The move is part of the Merriman Valley Schumacher Area Master Plan, a collaboration between Akron and Cuyahoga Falls to envision what residents want the valley to look and feel like. The proposal would change the zoning code in the area to a form-based code, which city planners say is the best way to make the master plan a reality. Form-based code focuses on the character, layout and accessibility of a community, rather than land use.
After getting public input last month, Cuyahoga Falls removed some parcels of land east of North Hampton Road from the proposal. Concerns shared by residents in a meeting last month led the planning department to make the last-minute change, releasing a supplemental staff report Monday night, Community Development Director Diana Colavecchio said.
“In that supplemental staff report, we decided collectively that we would remove all of the parcels east of North Hampton Road on Portage Trail, south and north, from this planning area," she said.
Residents at Tuesday night’s meeting were happy to see the change, but some, like Robin Willis, are still concerned about the potential impact of new residential development in the area.
“I just wondered who’s going to be paying for all these extra students that are going to be coming in," she said, "because that’s going to be on my real estate tax bill.”
Other residents expressed concern about potential impact to roads and emergency services.
"By far, the biggest concern these resident have are essentially two things: that is high density, they don't like it, don't want it, and additional traffic," Colavecchio said in an interview with Ideastream Public Media in February. "They're concerned about opening up higher density types of housing that would attract additional traffic."
There’s no way to know the impact until developers propose residential building plans, Colavecchio said.
“We wait to see if that’s actually what happens," she said. "The other research we did on this is that it would take 10 years, it would take about 10 years to build 1,024 new homes in the district.”
The planning commission approved the proposal. It now goes to city council.
Akron passed similar legislation to change zoning in its part of the valley last year.
