City Council - Regular Meeting

It is 8PM, and we will begin the Westlake City Council meeting for January 15. Clerk will clerk will please call the roll.

Mayor Clough? Here. President of council Greenspan? Here. Council members Van Dyke? Here. Menari?

Here.

Del Rego?

Here.

Leveque?

Here.

Havelka? Here. Getze.

We have a quorum. Council member Getsay has requested an excused absence. I'll entertain a motion to excuse his absence. So moved. There's been a motion. Is

there Second.

Discussion? Hearing none. Clerk will call the roll on the motion to excuse council member Getsay. Greenspan?

Yes. Van Dyke?

Yes.

Menari? Yes. Del Rego?

Yes. Leveck?

Yes.

Havalca?

Yes.

The motion carries. I will I'll ask everyone to please rise. Mayor, please lead us in the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, mayor. We have two sets of minutes to approve. The first meeting minutes were for the organizational meeting on January 2. I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes. So moved. There's been a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Motion made and second. Discussion on

the motion to approve the minutes? Hearing none, clerk will call the roll on the motion to approve the minutes.

Greenspan? Van Dyke? Yes. Nenari? Yes. Del Rego? Yes. Leveck? Yes. Pavelka? Yes.

The motion carries. Those minutes are approved. Second approval of the meeting minutes are for 01/06/2026 for our regular session. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? So moved. It's been a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Motion's made and seconded. Discussion? Hearing none, clerk call the roll. Motion to approve.

Greenspan? Yes. Van Dyke? Yes. Denari?

Yes.

Dalregno? Yes. Leveque? Yes. Pavelka?

Yes. The motion carries. Those minutes are approved. We have two items for selected correspondence.

Email from Dan Radish received January 15 regarding the Cheyenne Park preliminary develop development plan and a restriction on the location of a restaurant within the development.

Those that email is so included in the minutes

and email from joy and kevin evans received January 15 expressing concerns about the Chiban Park preliminary development plan

and that email is also included in the minutes next we have petitions of the public we have a few people that have signed in to speak. Westlake City Council members wanna hear from members of the public. Public comment is intended to allow members of the public to address issues relating to the city of Westlake. Speakers addressing city council during the public comment period will be asked to state their name and address for the meeting record. If representing an organization, please state the name of the organization.

Each speaker will be permitted three minutes. The council president has the discretion to allow speakers to continue beyond that time and may make speakers summarize or conclude their remarks. Public comment is an opportunity for members of the public to share information and bring issues and concerns to the attention of city council members. It is not an opportunity for members of the public to question council members or city staff. It is not a debate, and the public comment speakers should not expect a back and forth exchange. Council members may ask clarifying questions of the speaker, city counts city staff, or fellow council members. Evening's first speaker who has signed in is Ken Smith. Please come forward. State your name and address for the record.

My name is Ken Smith, I live at 90 Ashbourne Drive and I am the president of the Westhampton Crocker Park Condominium Association and I'm here on their behalf. As hopefully many of you know, there's been a construction site outside of Market Square behind Crocker Park. That construction site has been going ongoing since early in 2024. And what I wanted to do briefly is to share with you some correspondence and some timeline information so you get a better understanding of the frustration that my community has and the lack of action on the part of the city to try to help resolve our concerns. Since November 2024 through March 2025, no construction activity occurred at that site.

Our vice president of the HOA, Susan Flood, contacted Chris Wechter and him what was going on with the site. His comment and email, and these are all documented email conversations I'd be happy to share, was that construction is gonna start soon. Nothing happened. April 15, Chris sent a note to Susan. Construction's gonna resume May 5.

Okay. May 12, Chris sends a note to Susan, the construction's been pushed back three or four weeks. So during that time, I asked Don Graham, the building director and also I contacted the mayor's office and asked if they could do something to prevent the iSorb a construction site that existed to our residents. There were barrels, crates, tires, mountains of dirt laying all over the place. Through the mayor's help, was kind enough, they did put a fence up and they put some screening up that at least masked the problem which was a good interim solution.

Then naturally the screening was not of a very high quality, it kept breaking and blowing over and I've had a variety of conversations with Chris and others asking them to fix that. On July 16, I sent a note to our council person, Amy Hildeka bringing the issues to her bringing these concerns to her to see if she could assist us. She sent a note back to me, copied a cut and paste from what Don Graham had sent which was the same note that he sent to me. And in it, which I find kind of interesting, Don's note said that the owner now these these are only three condo units. We're not building a high rise apartment building here.

One of the units had a contract on it and the builder said the reason they haven't made construction would be because one of the devices or one of the petitions was a unique and expensive selection that come from overseas or require a long lead time to acquire and that's the reason no construction was going on. Now I know we this isn't formed for debate but I'd ask you rhetorically, Why would you stop exterior construction on three condominium units for an interior piece of equipment? If you can't answer that, ask yourself this question, why would the city accept that as a valid reason not to continue construction? I can't figure that one out. Also on July 16, Robin Leisure, the assistant law director sent me a note telling me that now construction is gonna start July 28.

So we went from May 5 to sometime in June to July 28. Now remember, this site hasn't been built on since November 2024, which is over a hundred and eighty days, which I thought and questioned violates section thirteen thirteen point o two of the city ordinance, which just says if the site is abandoned for a hundred and eighty days, it is considered an abandoned site. I did not get a response from assistant law director Leisure on that matter. So on July 24, I sent a note to Don Graham again and I tried to explain why we were concerned and why the history of this site is so important to us. The same builder who's building this site built the units at Westhampton at Crocker Park.

We had a lawsuit with that builder because of construction issues. I met with the mayor, Don Graham, the councilman at the time to discuss our concerns to see if there's anything they could do to help make certain that the quality of construction was good. Then the same builder built five units on North Ashbourne. He didn't complete them, ran out of funding. He sold them, they were completed by somebody else.

I tried to explain that to the building department. No response. I also requested at that time since that site had been idle for over a year, could they do an inspection? I got no response to that. So I tried to explain the history and then finally going back and forth and during this time, I did try to be show our appreciation for the attempts they made to keep that fence up and the screening up.

At least that blocked the view and pacified some of our residents with the issues that they had with the unsightly sight lines that they had. On December 3, I got I did it for the fourth time last year and I finally said no to Don Graham. I said, why do I have to be the one to bring these issues to the city's attention and aren't there any requirements of the contractor as far as safety and appearance go? He never responded to my email. And this all culminated in the last three days.

I once again asked when we're gonna get this thing done, when we're gonna clean the site up. So yesterday no, today's Thursday. So it would be Wednesday. I get an email from Don and I'd like to read this as part of the public record. I wanna update you, Ken, on where things are at with the issues at West Hampton construction project.

Late yesterday, after discussion with representatives Crocker Park and the contractor I didn't know anything about that. I instructed the contractor to remove the fencing entirely. I've been told by the contractor they expect the project to be wrapped up in March or April. Therefore, the cleanup of this site needs to take place to prepare for a final exterior improvements. Seeing as we are still in the middle of winter, I ask for your patience as it relates to the cleanup and removal of the construction materials.

It will happen but if the past is any indication, it won't happen as fast as you, not the city, as we would like it. But know there is an end in sight. I took offense to that. I thought it was disrespectful and disingenuous. Here's the note that I wrote back to Don.

I must be honest and share with you that I am disappointed in the situation on a number of levels. First, while you had a discussion with Crocker Puck and the contractor, at no time did you or any of the elected city's officials addressed on this email contact me as a representative of the community and ask for our input, ideas, specific concerns, or agreement to the solution. This despite the fact that I've been in constant contact with your office and the mayor's office since April 2025. Our community has no voice in this solution which if provides the opportunity, would have suggested at a minimum that the amount of dirt be removed from the fence prior to removing. Not to mention the fact, and I don't know, did anybody wonder what happens when you leave a construction site unguarded to the children in the neighborhood or the children that live in the apartments in there, but we're gonna take the fence down and we're telling you.

And I also find it coincidental that on Wednesday, Stark Enterprises or Crocker Park called Lawrence Management, our property management company. They didn't know who ran that property. They thought we were responsible for it. Miraculously, he contacted the building department and they have a meeting and they decide what's best for our community. Second, on the basis on what basis does anyone have any confidence that this project will be done by March or April? I brought this matter matter to the city's attention on 04/11/2025 and we sit here today with only a cadre of empty promises and lack of action almost a full year later.

Mister Smith, can I

you What penalties or consequences are those for the contractor builder if he isn't complete in that time frame?

Mister Smith, can I ask get it to summarize please and

I will? I am almost done, sir.

Okay. Thank

you. Appreciate just two more minutes. What steps in the city taking to make certain that the project is completed on time? The fact that a specific commitment to an end date is not provided is indicative of a contractor who has a general wish list and doesn't have a specific project plan. Finally, you ask the community to continue be patient.

The city doesn't really give us a choice, does it? I believe by any standard, our community has been more than patient with the lack of action that has been demonstrated to date. And what do we have to show for it? After two years, we have construction site and an eyesore that will remain in place for who knows how long. This is a very important matter to our community and what I hope and expect, you make better communications with the city on this matter.

In conclusion, I didn't come here to point fingers. I didn't come here to blame. I'm bringing an issue to the city and I would say this, many of you sitting in front of me today, a week ago signed a note, got sworn in on your election, and I voted for mister Maloney, voted for Dennis, I voted for Amy. And you took an oath to support the residents of the community, and nobody has done anything to help us. You've let this thing sit and fester, and you kicked the can down the road, and left us staring at an eyesore.

What I'm asking for specifically is can someone please lend a hand and do something for this site that's been in construction for two years, help us get it resolved, at a minimum, make it so that our neighbors across the street don't have to look at at a pile of dirt in an incomplete construction site. Thank you for your time, council president.

Thank you. William Zimmerman, please come forward. State your name and address for the record.

Good evening. William Zimmerman, Avon Lake. So I'm here to discuss the council president's representation in Lorain County. He was appointed a community development special projects director. I've made a public records request to gain information about what this position actually does and the projects that he's worked on from the commissioners in Lorain County.

The commissioner's clerk has not fulfilled my request to this date, and I believe there are potential conflicts of interest. A 150 jobs left Amherst, Nordstrom, to be shipped here to Westlake in their new headquarters. But my true concern lies more with ICP leaving the Midway Mall sale during its due diligence period to later purchase a building here in Westlake. So I don't believe if there was steering, if there was influence. Should there be an investigation?

I've been in contact with prosecutor's office trying to understand where this is going. And I apologize. I've lost my other page. One second. There we go.

So in a planning meeting in Lorain County, mister Greens Greenspan failed to provide documents to township trustees who were there to discuss the matter. So was this a lack of transparency? So I I have issues in regards to the gentleman's integrity, and I'm about to get to the bottom of it in Lorain County. I just wanted to make you all aware of what's going on here so you can make reference to it for your wonderful city of Westlake. Hope you all have a wonderful evening. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Gerald Phillips? Please state your name and address for the record.

Yeah. Gerald Phillips. I'm an Avon Lake resident, 461 Windward Way, also an attorney at law. I'd like to congratulate mayor Clough on his election to his eleventh term. Even though he was unopposed.

I always speak highly of him when I talk about cities that are run very well in administration. I just wish that he was mayor in Avon Lake because we don't have a mayor of of of, his integrity like mayor Clough. In fact, we're in a process of removing our mayor under a special provisions, ORC seven thirty three point seven two. So thank you, mayor. And the residents of Westlake should be very proud of what you've done during your 11 well, 10 terms and going on your eleventh. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, mister Phillips. Does anyone else wish to address counsel? Seeing none, moving along the agenda, report of the mayor.

Actually, I have a very short report Due to the observance of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 19, the city of Westlake offices will be closed. However, this does not affect the waste removal throughout the city. Unfortunately, today, we were affected because of the snow that came in. So anyone who had their trash scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week, it will be delayed but we're not expecting that on Monday. And as a reminder because it was difficult for us to get the information out this year because it was cancelled as far as a rubbish pickup.

We would encourage any resident to sign up for Nixle where we can send out information ourselves through a text on your phone. It's pretty easy to do it. Or simply go to the city's website and that's updated. And really that's all that I have to that's all I have today.

Great. Thank you mayor. Reports of administrative officials, I have none. Reports of standing committee, committee of the whole. This evening, Westlake City, we had a committee of the whole meeting. It began at 07:31. Present were council members Greenspan, members Van Dyke, Nenari, Del Rego, Leveque, and Havelka. Also present were mayor Kluff, law director Maloney, director Stum, Smolik, Shah, Horner, Bedell, Serber, Steibel, Graham, Gad, chief Spieloser Moran, and clerk Rosenbaum discussed this evening were agenda items, selected correspondence. And the following committee meetings have been scheduled, on January 20 at 06:30. There are five items on that agenda.

And on January 20 at 6PM, there'll be a discussion in the, public grounds meeting to discuss a donation of, where possible, city facilities. Inside of, committee of the hall, we did go into executive session at 07:35. The motion was made by council member Van Dyke, seconded by council member Menard to discuss pending litigation. A roll call vote was taken. It was unanimous. Also present in that executive session were the mayor, law director, and planning director of the executive session adjourned at 07:59, and the committee of the hall adjourned at 8PM. Moving along the agenda, committee reports of other boards and commissions, planning commission, mister Del Reigno.

Mister Mister Bedell. Vidal. Thank you, mister president. We have a number of items on the planning commission this evening.

First one's gonna be Dover Village Township fee simple plot. Yes. This is a fee simple plot for recording purposes for Dover Village Townhomes. The land under each townhome unit is to be a separate parcel with fee simple titles. This stems from 2008 and some changes with the county. They no longer allow condominium parcels. So we've been doing this for several years now. Actually, the code was changed in Westlake for this purpose. And the most important thing here is that this is this is what it looks like. And the most important thing here, here's your approved site plan, and I'm gonna overlay it here.

And as you can see, those buildings don't change. This is just an outline of where the buildings are. So it does not affect the design in any way at all, invisible lines on the ground to depict ownership. Thank

you. Make a motion to approve the Dover Village townhouse fee simple plot

mister Doregno has motion is there second and second in discussion hearing none clerical call roll on the

motion greenspan

yes

van dyke

yes

Nenari

yes

del regno yes Leveque yes avalco

yes the motion carries

The next one is the Abercrombie and Fitch storefront.

Yes. 175 Crocker Park Boulevard. This is the former Our House store. They are moving. And so this will be two separate tenant spaces accommodating Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, which you will also see.

So Abercrombie and Fitch will occupy the new tenant space on Carcup Park Boulevard between the planned Hollister space and the pedestrian alley, making this a corner storefront. So they'll remove the existing storefront and replace it with an entry feature featuring aluminum composite material entrance in classic black finish to contrast with the main wall material canopy projecting from the wall, and as a place for signage, and wall sconces. The main wall will be a metal slat wall of extruded aluminum in a flat matte tan color, black ACM storefront system, and below ACM storefront system in matching color. And the storefront facing the alley pedestrian alley largely is unchanged except for a small area that terminate that wraps the corner. And this does comply with the Crocker Park mixed use area design guidelines, which allow contemporary treatments such as this.

Thank you. Make a motion to approve the Abercrombie and Fitch storefront with the conditions listed in of the 01/05/2025 Planning Commission.

So move moved by Second. Motion by mister Del Reigno, second by mister Nenari. Discussion? Hearing none, clerk will call the roll on the motion.

Van Dyke? Yes. Nenari?

Yes.

Del Rego?

Yes.

Leveck? Yes. Havalco? Yes. Greenspan?

Yes. That motion carries.

Next is the Hollister sign plan and storefront.

Yep. Apologize. I need to remove sign plan. That's for planning commission. 195 Crocker Park Boulevard.

Again, this is to remodel the our house storefront into two separate tenant spaces. So this will be between this will be the new space between Abercrombie and Fitch in the existing altered state. Storefront here will have a tile wainscot and a blue Roka tile with sterling silver grout, an entry feature clad in steel blue aluminum composite metal to complement the tile wainscot. The main wall is a direct applied finish system similar to a stucco system and is allowed in the Crockett Park mixed use area design guidelines. It will have wood trim around the storefront and beam style trim and frame and define the storefront.

And the system storefront system, blue ACM panels above and below in a matching complementary color, and it does comply with the Crocker Park mixed use area design guidelines with the condition. And and the conditions with the last one and this one are just simply a couple standard ones from the fire department about approved address numbers and then that a box is provided so they can get in in the event of an emergency without having to break the door down.

Thank you. Make a motion to approve the Hollister storefront with the conditions listed in the report of the 01/05/2025 Planning Commission.

There's been a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion's made and second. Discussion? Hearing none, click the call to roll on the

motion. Nenari?

Yes.

Del Reigno? Yes. Leveque? Yes. Havalco? Yes. Greenspan?

Yes.

Van Dyke?

Yes.

We're busy. Next is Scheibond Park revised preliminary development plan. Yes. So this is, you know, it's a component of the rezoning process that took place previously. The existing preliminary development plan, which I will call PDP from now on, had five buildings. The main one of the main changes is that there will now be six commercial buildings. And the the main one one will be for their jewelry store up to 12,000 square feet. It's gonna be a phased development building one and two done at the same time. Building 2 up to 10,400 square feet. And then Buildings 3 Through 6 would be phase completed in phase two, and there's a just a range of building sizes that are on the screen.

In total, the buildings would be could be up to 54,070 square feet. The current approved PDP is at 30,600 square feet. So that's a difference of 23,470 square feet. It's about a 77 percent increase in size. As mentioned, all buildings could be up to about 30 feet in height.

Building 1 is 35 feet and then three is 18 feet and could be of any of the office or retail uses permitted in December. I won't go through all of them, but you'll you can see on the screen A number of these things have been agreed to in the prior preliminary development plan and in this one as well, by the Planning Commission and Council. So there will be no residential, no hotel uses, one, restaurant at this time. And planning commission has a recommendation regarding the restaurant, and I'll get to in a minute. Surface parking will coincide with the phased development, and they actually will have more parking than what's required by code, which we like to see.

And there's some public spaces, a town square, a water feature. As far as buffering goes, the current one, there is a couple of different options that we're kind of waiting to see what would happen with the development plan where they could preserve the existing woodland or do an elevated berm. Current proposal is just simply a 10 foot high berm with a six foot fence on top. And that's to the north and east property to provide a significant, buffer between the property and the residents, and you'll see that in a minute. And, that, exceeds the, buffer code requirements also.

Front setback hasn't really changed. They've added some parking along the front, but it is consistent with the neighboring property. South setback, there was a change in that the previous setback was at 60 feet. It's been reduced to 40 feet, which allows a slight shifting of the building and parking with the goal of moving it to be a little farther away from neighboring properties. And we've got some dumpster enclosures that have been called out.

So this is the approved plan. This just says nature preserve, really, that's irrelevant at this point. So as you can see, there's five buildings shown right here. Here's the five buildings, parking, and then this is a strip of land bank parking. And then this is the proposed PUD, so kind of the existing one is all up here. And this is parking and green space. So we've got one new building. This is the new building here, six. But this has shifted around, so five now is in this location as well. Sorry, I should have told you there's numbering to this.

These are the the dimensions. I won't go through all these, but they are here for reference if you would like to see them. This was the existing dimensions taken from the property line. It's approximate. And then here's the proposed, dimensions.

Obviously, we've got some things that are closer to the property line, as this was, you know, largely, just parking and and land bank parking as well. So they did provide some site diagrams. Planning Commission was concerned about line of sight from the residences. And so this is showing this 10 foot high berm and the fence along the top and, also showing the the foliage. If depending on how this lays out, this is the land bank parking, so they may not need to, do much in terms of of clearing that or that may be landscaped.

That's something that will come along with the development plan. It's not something that gets, decided at this point. These are the line of sight studies, from the residences, and this right here is showing the 10 foot high berm. So if you're in a neighboring home, the berm and then the fence on top blocking out views beyond. As far as use, I won't go through all these.

This is largely a lot of this is the same as last time except that before it said, things that would occur in Buildings 2 Through 5. Now it's 2 Through 6. The the one thing that is, different in this case, that they've recommended differently from what was requested by the applicant is restaurants. Planning Commission has recommended that restaurants only be in Buildings 1 Through 5 and not 1 Through 6. I And don't know if I have another view of that six.

I'll just show you what I mean by 6. This this is Building 6 right here. So the the applicant has asked to have be able to have a restaurant in all all buildings, and planning commissions made a recommendation through just for these buildings here and not this one. Then one other thing is there as far as setbacks, as you can see, just about everything here is working out fine. There is some land banking, land bank parking.

There's a strip of several parking spaces here. They are too close to the lot line. They're less than a 100 feet. So there is a condition of approval that that be corrected. This is a preliminary development plan. There will also be a final development plan that will come on come later And a lot of this will will be refined at that time. So they should be able to design it without losing any parking spaces ultimately. So the Planning Commission did recommend approval. Some of these conditions are actually carried over from the the prior one, they're just being repeated. Although there are, there are some new things, as I mentioned, the the restaurant, buildings one through five.

And three, the condition that the future development plan also include the 10 foot high buffer and six foot high fence and and constructed concurrent with phase one development. And condition that the number four is from last time. And then the last one is that condition regarding the land bank parking spaces being outside the rear setback. Thank you. Should that be changed the date

01/05/2026 or is

that Thank you. Yes. Yes. 01/05/2026.

Let let the record reflect the date change.

Make a motion to approve the Scheibond Park revised preliminary development plan with the conditions listed in the report of the 01/05/2026 planning commission.

It's been a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion's made in second. Discussion?

I have some comments I would like to say. Okay. I'm happy, that the Cheybins wanna build their flagship store here in Westlake. The plan for the plaza looks beautiful. My biggest concern has always been the proximity to and impact on the residents along the back of the property.

The plan we are voting on tonight is larger than the original plan and pushes the buildings closer to the residents. Their biggest concern through this entire process has been with the placement of a restaurant in the buildings closest to them. They had thought that with Crocker Commons having all restaurant and retail along Crocker Road and office space in the back, they could expect the same from Scheibond Park. But Crocker Commons voluntarily chose to design their development that way. Our current code allows what the Chibens wanna do.

I appreciate Planning Commission limiting the placement of the restaurant to Buildings 1 Through 5, but the residents would prefer that Building 5 not be an option either. I ask that the Scheibens keep this in mind as they move forward. This process has unfortunately revealed a weakness in our code. While I know it will not help tonight's outcome, I will be bringing forth amendments to our code regarding PUD's and the placement of restaurants and their proximity to restaurant to residents in the future. Thanks.

Thank you. Any further comments?

I I'd just like to, because I did go to some of the planning, meetings, and I I really am impressed with the, the Scheibens and how they do things and and, you know, happy to have them here in, Westlake. So I would appreciate it if they do one through four for a restaurant, not five or six. But well, they can't go six. But thank you.

Thank you. Mister Van Dyke.

Yes. Thank you, mister president. President. And I also appreciate Ms. Scheibin's different revisions and work on the coming up with a plan. However, I am also not necessarily in favor of a restaurant on 5 because we had discussed keeping things towards the street. But let me ask you this, mister Biddell. This is a preliminary development plan. Correct? Correct. And so there's still a final development plan.

Yes,

sir. So they're gonna come into the city and ask for or they're gonna show us what the buildings actually look like and the details. Correct. What goes where it goes. So what if we wanted to have more landscape? If, let's say, there's a restaurant in 5, can we add can we have a condition of more landscaping back there?

Yeah. I I think to provide more buffer if there's a yeah. If it ties in

with it, certainly. You know? Yeah. Beyond. And I appreciate the fence and but remember, part of what makes Westlake work is the retail or commercial next to residential. Our whole city is based on that zoning. Detroit Road, Center Ridge Road, Crocker Road. And to be successful, we have to have some balance on these things. So we try to treat the residents with respect as well as the businesses. So I want you to keep that in mind as you move forward, please. Thank you.

Thank you. Any further comments? Hearing none, clerical, the roll on the motion.

Del Rego?

Yes.

Leveque? No. Havalca? No. Greenspan?

Yes.

Van Dyke? Yes. Zanari?

Yes. The motion carries. Next item.

Next is the Scheibond Park design guidelines.

Yes. So this goes along with that preliminary development plan. So the design guidelines provide really information that will be useful when the development plan and the architectural plans are designed. So it does have some more information in terms of site planning, building placement, parking, open space, public art, paving, landscaping, lighting. Architecture.

So you're going to see some renderings later on, but those are really more schematic. The architecture hasn't been designed yet, or at least we haven't seen it. But the design guidelines will help. They do spell out form articulation, style, aesthetics, the materials to be used, pedestrian focused storefronts, and final designs. It does note that really it's planning, commissioning, and the applicant working together on it.

So this is basically what it looks like. I'll go through it quickly. But it's got some information about how the open space will work, how parking will work, areas for public art, and the paving, interesting paving choices that they may choose, landscaping, site lighting, and architecture, which includes the style aesthetics and the materials, and then individual storefront design. This is something that's in there currently. The Planning Commission recommended moving it to the master sign criteria, and it actually has already been moved to that master sign criteria, master signage planning commission is going to take a look at that at their next meeting.

So we do have that in. We do have it where it actually belongs. So it's sort of lost here. And we were concerned that in the future, if somebody's regulating signage, they're not going to know where to look. So that fixes it. So these are those renderings, as I mentioned. This is not meant to be exactly what you're going to see there, but it just gives ideas in terms of the building massing and the colors and materials being used and and things of that nature. The actual architecture will come in the future. So, as I mentioned, the Planning Commission did make a recommendation that Section 4 is relocated. That has been done. Thank you.

Make a motion to approve the Scheibing Park design guidelines with the conditions listed in the report of the 01/05/2026 Planning Commission.

It's been a motion. Is there a second? Second. Motion's made and seconded. Discussion on motion? Hearing none, click or call the roll on the motion.

Leveque?

Yes.

Hovalka? Yes. Greenspan?

Yes.

Van Dyke? Yes. Denari? Yes. Del Reigno?

Yes. Last is we on second reading for tonight is the 2025123.

Yes. So this is this is actually Gemini Twin Towers. The request is a conditional use permit for a bank with drive through service, 1991 Crocker Road. This is Executive Office Park, so banks are a conditional use for this site. The building will be between 3,004 square feet in the northwest corner of the parking lot. We don't have development plans. We don't want development plans at this point. We just want conceptual plans, and they did provide that. So there is a precedent for this on this site. There was a similar conditional use approved in 2008 for PNC, and it does complement office uses on the site as well.

As I mentioned, there are conceptual plans that you're going to see. The city's not obligated to any of the designs you see. They're basically just to show that you could do a building in this location if you do allow this CUP. Did take a look at things like setbacks and landscaping and things like that. Most everything is working. Setbacks are not right. They're aware of it. They're aware of what they need to do to correct the setbacks. They've for a number of different concept plans, as you can see. A little setback study I did.

So none of these really work out right. They sure that we were going to allow them to position the building so that it would use up more parking. So that's why they had done it that way. So they'll move it accordingly when the time comes. And just taking a look at other setbacks along Crocker Road and Detroit Road, they need to. They can't put it where they want to put it. It just doesn't make any sense. They provided some architectural renderings. Again, these are just conceptual. Doesn't mean you have to approve them.

Traffic study and their traffic engineer attended the Planning Commission meeting. The projected volume will not adversely affect safety in the site or at either access point. I did a parking analysis. And even with removing this parking and even with all the the four different concepts they gave us, they will still have three out of four will have still remain with an excessive amount of parking. One one will just be even. So that won't be an issue. Planning Commission took a look at it. They looked at the standards for evaluating conditional use permits. They found that there really there were no reasons to recommend any safeguards or conditions for this. Thank you.

I believe there's a public hearing set for this on

February 5. Correct. February 5. At 8PM.

And there will be a planning commission meeting coming up. I have the wrong date on that. I don't know what the January 5.

Planning commission. Planning commission will be February 2.

February 2, 2026 at 6PM. A little change in time as well for the New Year. So feel free to join us.

Thank you. Great first report.

Thank you,

sir. Alright. Moving along. I'll entertain our vice dean for a motion to suspend. Mister Nenari? Yes.

So motion to suspend article three, section 10 of the charter, the rule requiring three separate readings for the items listed. Mister Nenari,

hold on one second, please.

I thought you were

on board. I jumped ahead a little bit.

It's okay. Okay. I got excited. I'll read it again.

You wanna do the second reading?

Second reading. Yes. Second reading. Ordinance two thousand twenty five one twenty three.

I thought you wanted me to read that.

No. I'm sorry, sir.

It's okay.

An ordinance considering a conditional use permit for a bank.

Great. And that one, as has been stated, the public hearing is set for February 5. I kinda consolidated mister Del Reigno's report with the agenda, so I apologize for that. Now, mister Menari. We'll go at it again. Legislation for first reading under adoption or suspension.

I'd like to, motion to suspend article three section 10 of the charter, the rule requiring three separate readings for the items listed under legislation for the first reading adoption under suspension of the rules. There's been

a motion to suspend. Is there a second? Second. Motion's made in second. A discussion on the motion to suspend? Hearing none, clicker call the roll on the motion.

Valca? Yes. Greenspan? Yes. Van Dyke? Yes. Menari? Yes. Telregno? Yes. Levec?

Yes. The motion carries. The rules are suspended. Ordinance 2,026 dash four.

An ordinance amending appropriations for the city of Westlake, Ohio and declaring an emergency.

I'll entertain a motion to adopt.

So moved.

Then the motions are second.

Second. Motion's made and seconded. Discussion. Mayor? This relates to the appropriations necessary to transfer funds or advance funds to the various accounts. They involve the hospitalization fund, the community services activity fund, compensated absences, transfer to Ohio Public Works Fund, advance to Meadowood Golf Course, and transfers related to the American Greetings TIF project, as well as sewer usage funds. The largest entry here is a dollar 20.

K. Actually, that's the smallest entry. Any further discussion? Hearing none, clerk call the roll on the motion. Motion.

Greenspan? Yes. Van Dyke? Yes. Menari? Yes. Del Reigno? Yes. Leveque? Yes. Havalca? Yes.

Motion carries. That ordinance is adopted. Any miscellaneous business before council? Yeah. Just one thing. I I think if mister president, you or the mayor could just remind the citizens about the snow ban and also about driving safely, around snowplow and other equipment because this has been a rough winter so far and it doesn't look like there's any end in sight.

Maybe we can do that do that through the website as well and I thank you for doing it right now.

Thank you, vice dean. Any anything anything else before council? Hearing none, it's 08:46. I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. The motion is there a second? Second. Motion is made. And second, a discussion on the motion to adjourn? Hearing none, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed? We are adjourned.