by Rachael Whitcomb
Associate Editor
Boston Heights -- Phone lines were busy at Boston Heights Village Hall April 12, the morning after Village Council voted 5-1 in favor of rezoning a portion of the former Boston Heights Country Club to allow retail development.
Village Clerk Maryann Bode said she was fielding "tons" of phone calls all morning from concerned residents who wanted to speak to their Council representatives about the rezoning and Council"s April 11 approval of the addition of residential conservation developments as a conditional use to the village zoning code.
At planning commission meetings and public hearings leading up to Council"s vote, residents have said they don"t want any more development in the village and the at least 50 residents followed Council"s vote with a collective sigh and angry mumbling. Many said they would remember how the body voted when their seats come up for re-election.
"There were too many unanswered questions," said Council member Teri Slane, the only one who voted against the rezoning and new residential classification.
She said she voted against the measure because no impact studies were conducted, and she believed residents made it clear to Council at previous meetings and public hearings that this was something they didn"t want. Slane said she believes that while developers have rights, so do the residents who lived in Boston Heights first, and developers of the former golf course knew what the zoning at the site was before they purchased it.
Phone calls to other Boston Heights Council members were not returned by press time.
Scott Foss, a Wellington Court resident who spent the last few weeks collecting signatures opposing more development along Route 8, said he and other residents already have discussed submitting a referendum for the November ballot to reverse Council"s vote.
"We"re obviously disappointed that the vote turnout out the way it did," Foss said in a phone interview April 13.
Foss said he and about six other residents collected 262 signatures since late March on a petition that opposed the rezoning at the former golf course, dense residential development and the allowance of "big box" retail uses. He said 95 percent of the people he approached with the petition signed it.
According to the Summit County Board of Elections, 61 signatures would have to be collected and submitted to the village within 30 days of Council"s vote with a certified copy of the legislation in question. The petition would then be displayed for 10 days at the village before being handed over to the elections board.
Foss added that while he was unhappy with Council"s decision, he applauded Slane"s lone "no" votes on the rezoning and new residential zoning classification.
"I think that was a good move on her behalf," Foss said. "I would like to applaud [her] on her direction."
Slane made a motion at the meeting to refer the matter of the rezoning back to the finance committee for more research on the economic impact of possible development at the site. She added that she would have liked to see Council put the issue before voters in the fall.
The motion failed 4-2, however, with only Slane and Council member Janet Miller voting in favor.
E-mail: rwhitcomb@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3146