Council approves commercial office, Chick-fil-A

by Dan Holland

April 22 city council meeting

Members of Broadview Heights City Council at their April 22 meeting approved a motion to accept the city planning commission’s approval for a commercial/medical office development on the southwest corner of the interchange at Interstate 77 and state Route 82.

Planning Commission members gave final approval to applicant Bob Abramovich with Butterfli Holdings 043 LLC during their April 10 meeting for the modification of the proposed commercial medical/office development located at 4774 E. Royalton Rd. A BP station, which currently sits on the 5-acre site, would be torn down to make way for the development.

Plans, which call for three buildings on the site to be built in phases, would include a 12,750 square-foot building near East Royalton Road that would include a University Hospitals urgent care clinic and three additional tenants, which may include two restaurants and a retail business.

A second 5,300 square-foot freestanding building would house a Chick-fil-A restaurant with a drive-through and outdoor seating. Details concerning occupancy of the third building were not made available. A main parking area would be situated to the rear of the parcel.

According to county fiscal records, Butterfli Holdings purchased the site in December 2022 for $2.4 million.

Reports

Mayor Sam Alai shared an award the city recently received, along with the city of Independence, from India Festival USA. Both cities annually support India Festival USA, which was held last September at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School.

“We were the first two cities to be recognized as champions for bridging cultures, generations and communities,” said Alai. “Again, what a great organization – India Festival USA – for recognizing the work of the city of Broadview Heights and the city of Independence.”

Council discussion

Council President Robert Boldt noted during council discussion that he would be introducing a charter amendment to set in place rules governing city-sponsored events, which would allow council to overturn the holding of a scheduled event by a five-person vote of council.

The action came one week after a number of residents expressed differing views over the scheduling of a Pride Fest to be held at the city amphitheater on June 8. The event was approved by Alai and the city administration without any input from city council per established procedures.

The April 15 meeting attracted regional and national media attention.

“The charter amendment will not touch the mayor’s powers whatsoever,” explained Boldt. “But what we should do is put in that council has the option to overturn a single person’s choice of having a city-sponsored event.”

According to the proposed amendment, the mayor would be required to announce any city-sponsored event 150 days in advance, communicate it to city council and post it on the city website. Council members would then have 21 days to vote to overturn the decision.

“This isn’t about content whatsoever; this is only a vote on sponsoring or not sponsoring an event,” said Boldt. “If council so chooses to overturn it, anybody from the city still has full rights to go through the codifieds and 820.”

Chapter 820 of the city’s codified ordinances governs mass musical or public entertainment events and special permitting requirements for events held on city grounds for which the city is not a sponsor or co-sponsor. Such an event would require council approval.

“All this does is bring a checks and balances to the city, and It gives transparency to all the residents out there so they know ahead of time,” Boldt continued. “This is not going after anybody’s power; this is just to fill that one void I believe we have. This is not personal; it has nothing to do with the events of last week. Last week just showed that we have a hole, so I’d like to fix that going forward.”

Councilperson Joe Price commented on the proposed amendment and the April 15 meeting.

“I think this is a discussion that clearly needs to happen, and I just want to say how disappointed I was as to references that were made about our community and the reflection that this group decided to put on it,” he said. “Last week’s meeting was very cordial, and it was professional. I have seen a lot of meetings get out of control, but that was not one of them. So, I commend all the residents that did a very good job of stating their positions – some with passion – but nothing with anger or hate.”

In other action, council approved:

• An agreement with Stone Co., Inc. DBA Allied Corporation for asphalt supply in the city.
• An agreement with NOACA for an energized community grant for 2024.
• An agreement with Cintas for garment services in the city.
• An agreement with the Better Business Bureau for a land exchange agreement in connection with the Treeworth Boulevard extension. A separate resolution established an agreement for reimbursement of legal fees incurred by the BBB.
• A resolution declaring it necessary to provide street lighting for streets in the following subdivisions: Autumn Woods, Country Lakes Estates, Homestead, Phase One and Two of Scottsdale and Creekside Trace in the Creekside Reserve in 2024. ∞