GREEN: Aging baby boomers seeking senior-friendly living options could get more choices soon if a proposed $50 million development in southern Summit County is approved.
The Green City Council has scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. July 9 regarding a zoning change request by well-known Green builder and developer John Warmus of Warmus Builders Inc. The city will seek input from residents on a zoning change from R-1 single-family residential to Planned Development for the proposed project on Boettler Road.
Warmus submitted plans for a 391-unit senior living development in May to rezone 80.6 acres on two parcels of property, formerly known as the Kiefl Farm. The property runs south from Boettler Road to a subdivision called Rolling Green and from another area called Meadow Wood allotment on the eastern boundary to property abutting homes on Arlington Road to the west.
The project would be completed in three phases, said John Warmus, owner and developer, adding it would offer seniors different levels of help.
“It’s a concept that has certainly come of age,” Warmus said.
Green had an estimated population of 25,415 in the latest American Community Survey from the U.S. Census Bureau. Thirty percent, or 7,606, are 55 or older.
Warmus is requesting the two parcels be consolidated in conjunction with the final development plan review if and when the rezoning request is granted. He hopes to break ground “as soon as we possibly can” in 2014.
The development would feature a mix of 391 total “senior living” units on about 74 acres for seniors to transition through stages of their lives. Four detached ranch-style apartments with 48 units are planned as well as 90 to 95 cluster homes for people 55 or older. Four professional buildings are proposed that would be residential in architecture, he said.
“They are similar to the building I built at Boettler Road where Hattie Larlham has Constant Companions and Summa has a medical office. We will use that same footprint,” Warmus said.
Twenty-eight acres of the residential areas would be set aside for green space designed for outdoor recreational uses including jogging and walking trails, exercise and fitness trails, areas for bird watching and a picnic pavilion.
The first phase would see an investment of $15 million to $20 million, Warmus said.
Phase I
Twenty cluster homes are proposed as well as an independent and assisted living building with 146 units and a separate Alzheimer’s unit serving 46 residents. Plans call for a gazebo in a public gathering area, according to the site map by landscape architectural firm Cawrse & Associates Inc. of Chagrin Falls.
A professional building that could house three or four units and an outdoor public gathering place for seniors would also be included in the first phase. A proposed road has been repositioned from the original plan as a cul-de-sac for about 20 cluster homes in the first phase and an entrance road relocated to Boettler. Eventually, the development could have as many as four roads.
The entire project might take 10 years before completion, he said.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, I can tell you that. In total, it is probably one of the largest projects I’ve done all on one site,” Warmus said.
The builder and the city have a long relationship, said Wayne Wiethe, director of planning and development for the city. Warmus is responsible for Green View Senior Assisted Living at Town Center, the FedEx building on Boettler and most recently the West Airport Business Center on Greensburg Road along with other residential and commercial enterprises, Wiethe said.
Seeking approval
Following the public hearing on rezoning, the issue will return to the City Council for approval, said Wiethe, who agreed with Warmus’ 10-year estimate.
The council’s Aug. 13 meeting will be the first when a vote could be taken on the issue after the public hearing.
“If it’s an up vote, we mark it ‘pending planned development’ and John would come in with his different pieces over the years,” Wiethe said.
If the council approves the concept plan, the planning department will follow the project one building at a time. There must be a site plan made for review by the planning department and the planning commission. Then the council must confirm that it matches planned development for each different feature, Wiethe said.
Kathy Antoniotti can be reached at 330-996-3565 or kantoniotti@thebeaconjournal.com.