The Planning Commission meeting agenda was rather light on Thursday, so I asked our Planning Director, Nate Leppo, to give an update on several open retail and restaurant spaces in the City. The updates include:
- El Campesino will be moving in the former On Tap building just next door based on the lease not being renewed for their current building.
- The current El Campesino building will be leased to a national brand restaurant to be named in the future.
- The re-development of the former Stow Glenn buildings and property is scheduled to bring its next phase of items before Planning Commission in the next month, this will be to rezone the newly created lots there. The plan is for a commercial out lot and then a newly built nursing facility, and renovated efficiency one bedroom style apartments.
- Twisted Tomato which was going in the former Pony Express space is working through the permitting process currently, no defined opening date was given.
- Another local restaurant brand is looking to move into the former Moe’s space and is expected to come before Planning Commission to expand the dining room space towards Fishcreek Road.
- The former Macy’s building has been removed due to structural issues but the developer for the property has two national brands interested in seeing a new development for their stores, hopeful to see some movement on this within the next twelve months.
- The Planning Department is expected to see plans for the redevelopment of the former Stow-Kent Bowling Alley into a family centric outdoor recreation venue.
- Finally, the coffee kiosk on Norton Road has also seen some movement towards construction in the last several weeks.
Firefighter Mel presented the 2023 Fire Safety Poster Awards on Thursday as well. The twelve winning designs will be featured on a Calendar handed out by the Fire Department. The winners also have the privilege of riding on the fire truck in the 4th of July Parade! It was great to see the students and their families attend the award ceremony and the creativity of the designs and messages about fire safety. Congratulations to all the winners!
Finance Committee addressed many pieces of legislation as well, majority of them were for annual expenses in the City such as gas, electric, cell phone services, etc. In addition, we had many resale vendors used at Fox Den Golf course and vendors used for maintenance of the golf course for fertilizers and turf maintenance. I would expect we will continue to have a heavier agenda on the finance agenda for the next month as we work through many of these reoccurring contracts for approval.
Council also passed an amended version of the legislation from the end of 2022 which required board and commissions to start streaming their meetings by February 2023. This amendment reduced the number of boards and commissions subject to the requirement. It was reduced from 12 board and commissions to 7 boards and commissions, including: Planning Commission, Board of Control, Planning Commission, Building & Zoning Appeals, Parks & Recreation Board, Urban Forestry Commission, and Arts Commission. The Administration continues to oppose this legislation; however, it has been approved by Council and I look forward to seeing this additional use of our software and equipment purchased to provide more transparency to our residents.
Council will meet next on Thursday January 26, 2023 with committee meetings starting at 5:30 PM.