Glass City Jungle

Tonight was the Neighborhood Forum that Tom Waniewski, Toledo City Council Candidate for District 5 organized that was held at Aldersgate United Methodist Church. Gary Yunker, Vice President of Real Estate Development for the Timberstone Group, George Oravecz the consulting Civil Engineer on the DeVeaux Village Shopping Center and City Councilman George Sarantou were in attendance. I estimated close to 100 people were there, the only media that was present was WTOL, I’ll link to their coverage when it’s on their website. A representative from the Planning Commission was to attend but did not.

Tom Waniewski started with a welcome and pointed out that the purpose of the meeting tonight was “not a political thing” that the main reason for scheduling this meeting was as he was going door to door talking to people in his campaign for City Council many people expressed concerns or had questions about the planned changes at DeVeaux Village and he wanted to try to help separate the fact from the fiction. The crowd assembled was friendly and when Tom passed around a sign in sheet for those interested in more information and promised those in attendance that he was “not going to send you any emery boards”, there was an appreciative laughter.

It almost appeared the mood changed when George Yunker from Timberstone started talking and mentioned one of the businesses currently at DeVeaux Village, Playmakers Sports Eatery, there were a few groans and a boo or two from those assembled. When it was made clear that there would be an opportunity for those present to ask questions, things grew quiet again and Mr. Yunker continued on with the information with what tenants were expected. Zavotski Custom Meats, Cedar Creek Church and a Goodwill Store are the new tenants planned at this time. Little Caesars and the Toy store will be moved to a different location within the shopping center. Timberstone is investing ten million dollars in the additional construction and the upgrades, they are not receiving any tax abatement nor has any City funds gone into this project. The 7000 square foot area it’s hoped will contain stores that require less square footage like a coffee shop, ice cream store, phone store, retail of that nature. The coffee shop idea seemed to have a great deal of support from the reaction of the audience.

George Oravecz then spoke, first covering two items related to the project that will be before the Planning Commission, one is related to an additional special use permit necessary for Zavotski’s to open and one is related to the construction of the 7000 square foot building that was already approved with 30 conditions set, Timberstone is asking for one of the 30 conditions to be amended. Rather than be required to create one small area of landscaping in the parking lot area they want to create a larger one from the side of the building all the way down the street to create more of a streetscape view of trees alternated with bushes.

George Yunker then spoke again and began to take questions from the audience. The main concerns seemed to focus around problems/concerns with parking/drainage and traffic flow. There were also a few residents who had issues with the Playmaker Sports Eatery stating that it was not a family restaurant as they had originally been told. Mr. Yunker and Mr. Oravecz both stressed that there would be ample parking and there were plans to later pave a section that is now currently grassy. On the issue of drainage Mr. Oravecz explained some of the local, state and federal requirements when it came to rain water run off from the parking lot and how that was no longer allowed to go into the storm sewers, there is a process where at least the first inch of water must be detained for 24 hours either above or below ground. It was obvious some of the neighbors there felt as if they had not been given enough information from the City when it came to this project and general concerns about their neighborhoods.

As to the traffic concerns, it was pointed out by Mr. Yunker that a joint effort was needed by all of those in attendance and the school because parents were using the shopping center parking lot as a drop off location for students. This is a safety concern for Timberstone since they don’t want the possibility of a student being hit while crossing over to school. He stated they had been trying to work with the school system to find a solution but wanted to make people aware of the situation. The traffic studies done for the project indicate it will not have a huge impact on Sylvania or Douglas road.

Then one of the neighbors stated that she didn’t understand why people were upset about, that she was happy that ten million dollars was being invested in the neighborhood and that when she first moved into the area the shopping center was in full swing, the school was there and there was not a problem with parking or traffic at that time. She didn’t understand how people seemed upset that the shopping center was empty and here there was someone who was trying to make it thrive again. There was a huge amount of applause to her statement.

When the topic turned to traffic again, George Oravecz pointed out that he felt the chance of Sylvania being widened would not happen, that there was only a 60 foot right of way and for any road widening to happen either residential homes on one side of the street would have to be taken out or a huge amount of the commercial property on the other side of the road would have to be taken out. He pointed out how most tenants move to the new shopping centers which creates the scenario where the older shopping centers decay and as a former resident of this area he felt Timberstone deserved credit for their plans for DeVeaux and their ten million dollar investment in the neighborhood. More applause followed.

Another resident stated that if there were more opportunities for citizens to have communication with the School Board and the City of Toledo that he felt there would have been less frustration expressed by some of those present. He thanked George Yunker and Timberstone for their investment in his neighborhood, to a round of applause.

Tom Waniewski stated that he agreed with the need for more communication between citizens and government, and that was an goal he would like to accomplish depending on the outcome of the election in November.

George Sarantou spoke briefly he agreed that there needed to be more communication and listened to some of the citizen concerns regarding the Playmakers Sports Eatery. He urged people to document the problems and to contact him that each year when liquor licenses come up for renew if there are too many issue City Council can recommend to the State that the license be suspended. George then stated what a positive thing the DeVeaux Village project would be for that neighborhood and how it would improve the value and make the neighborhood even stronger. With the building of a new school and Blessed Sacrament expanding and this project there were many promising things happening. Mr. Sarantou also pledged to work with Timberstone and TPS to address the parking lot/student concerns.

In closing, Tom Waniewski thanked everyone for taking the time to be there and hoped that this forum would lead to better communication that it was better for a neighborhood to be pro-active.

Darlene Fisher, Toledo Public School Board member was also in attendance tonight, she didn’t speak as a part of the forum but was there to talk to some of the residents present and it was reported on WTOL that she had pledged her support as well to work with the City and Timberstone on the concerns regarding students and the parking lot at DeVeaux Village to find a solution.