BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio — A City Council committee had a chance last week to ask a Kentucky-based home builder why it reduced the number of townhomes it plans to build on Ohio 82 just west of Broadview Road.
The committee also could have asked the builder — Drees Homes, which has an office in Brecksville — why it dropped one of four parcels that originally made up the site and excluded a construction firm, which claims it had been partnering with Drees, from the development.
However, the committee chose not to ask those questions, even though the construction firm, Gill Construction Inc., has hired an attorney to formerly object to the townhome development, which Drees has dubbed Ledges of Broadview.
“This (potential litigation and plan changes) has nothing to do with the city and it would not stop the project,” Brian Wolf, chairman of council’s Building Codes, Public Building and GPZ committee, said Aug. 26.
Wolf said the courts, not the city, would decide if Ledges of Broadview can move forward, if Gill sues Drees.
James Conlon — an attorney representing Matthew Fiala, who co-owns the property Drees ejected from the development — disagreed that the matter was none of the city’s business. He said the exclusion of Fiala’s land from Ledges of Broadview would turn Fiala’s lot into a residential island, diminish his property value and count as a taking of land.
“And the city would be involved in that lawsuit (between Gill and Drees),” Conlon told the committee.
The committee referred the proposed Ledges of Broadview to the city’s Planning Commission. The plan was not on the commission’s Aug. 28 agenda.
Councilwoman Jennifer Mahnic, who is not a committee member, asked the committee why Drees changed its original plan. She said residents living near the proposed Ledges of Broadview site are concerned about additional residential development in the area.
Wolf said his committee, at the advice of Law Director Vince Ruffa, would not address those concerns. He said his committee’s job is to make sure the proposed development adheres to municipal zoning code, which it does. Wolf said it’s up to the city’s Planning Commission to weigh other matters related to Ledges of Broadview.
? and the Mysterians
Originally, Drees proposed building 42 upscale, paired townhomes on 16 acres. The site consisted of four parcels just west of the Weeping Cherry Village apartments. Louis Colantuono, who owns three of the four parcels, and Fiala, who owns the fourth, sent letters to the city supporting the project.
On May 7, Broadview Heights voters rezoned the proposed Ledges of Broadview site from a single-family district, which prohibits townhomes, to the city’s unique Town Center Special Planning District Zone B, which permits townhomes.
Then, on June 24, Thom Sutcliffe, land acquisition manager with Drees in Brecksville, sent a letter and blueprint showing the proposed Ledges of Broadview to the city. The project would now consist of 36 homes instead of 42, and three parcels instead of four, on 13 acres instead of 16.
In the June 24 letter, Sutcliffe did not explain why the plan had been changed or even acknowledge that a change had occurred.
On July 1, an attorney representing Gill Construction – which according to at least one Broadview Heights property owner was involved in the project with Drees from the beginning — formally objected to the subdivision moving forward without Gill.
The attorney, Anthony Vacanti of the Cleveland law firm Tucker Ellis LLP, told City Council that Gill had an option to purchase the parcel owned by Fiala, contingent on the rezoning, so eliminating Fiala’s land from the project means that Gill would be excluded from the project.
“This gives rise to serious legal issues, not only among the parties (Drees, Gill and the Ledges of Broadview property owners) but also for the city,” Vacanti wrote in a July 1 letter to council.
“Given the city wanted all four properties part of the rezoning and the project, and based on such representations moved forward with the rezoning, it appears there may have been misrepresentations to council that need to be clarified and addressed,” Vacanti said.
Vacanti didn’t say why Drees removed one parcel and excluded Gill Construction from the subdivision. After the July 1 meeting, he told cleveland.com that he was still investigating the matter. He didn’t return calls last week and Tuesday (Sept. 3).
At the Aug. 26 committee meeting, when Conlon repeated that Gill and Fiala had a contract to include Fiala’s land in the Ledges of Broadview project, Sutcliffe, who was at the meeting, said, “That is false.”
After the Aug. 26 committee meeting, Conlon, the attorney representing Fiala, said he didn’t know why Drees excluded his client’s parcel from the Ledges of Broadview project.
Sutcliffe, reached Tuesday, said his firm prohibits him from talking to reporters. He said he would forward questions — most significantly, why Drees dropped Fiala’s property from the project — to the appropriate person at Drees. No one from Drees had responded as of Tuesday afternoon.
It’s also still not clear which Gill Construction Vacanti is representing. Last month, cleveland.com contacted Ken Gill Construction LLC in Port Clinton and William Gill Construction Inc. in LaGrange, but both said they had nothing to do with Ledges of Broadview.
Cleveland.com was then referred to a David Gill as a possible party in the Ledges of Broadview project. He didn’t return calls.
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