AURORA — The Planning Commission accepted for consideration an amended draft site plan, a final site plan and a wetland setback waiver request for a new K&M Tire warehouse during its July 20 session.
Aurora Industrial Park II/Curtis Layer is looking to erect the 130,000 square foot building on 13.9 acres on Francis D. Kenneth Drive, just north of Campus Drive in the South Industrial Zone.
In April, the city council approved a 15-year, 100% tax abatement with C Realty LLC/K&M Tire Inc. for the warehouse, which is expected to create approximately 26 new jobs in the city.
The planning commission previously approved a 34.5-acre lot division on the site, allowing K&M Tire to submit building plans on the northernmost 13.9 acres.
K&M Tire spokesman Kevin Schnipke said the company plans to move its plant from Solon to Aurora. The company is a regional, family-owned tire distributor headquartered in Delphos, Ohio.
It owns and operates 32 distribution centers in the Great Lakes, Midwest and Great Plains regions, and distributes over 50 brands of passenger car and light/medium truck tires and over 12 brands of agricultural, industrial and specialty tires. .
The company employs 265 full-time people. The company plans to move 16 full-time employees from Solon and hire five each in years 2 and 3 for a total of 26. This would translate to a payroll of just over $1 million. dollars by the third quarter of 2025.
It was explained that the proposed building would have a roof peak height of 30 feet and that the proposed building/parking setbacks in the side and rear yards are above the required minimums.
A minimum of 65 trees must be planted in accordance with the zoning code.
Planning, zoning and construction director Denise Januska said the code also requires the site to have 174 parking spaces, and 43 paved spaces with 131 dirt spaces are offered.
The applicant is requesting a wetland setback of 58 feet, and Januska said a wetland delineation with ORAM scores by HzW Environmental Consultants has been submitted. Chagrin River watershed partners have reviewed the waiver request.
Januska also said the fire department has no objections to the project, a route generation report has been submitted and improvement plans are needed before final site plan approval is due. given.
OTHER BUSINESS
The planning committee has accepted for consideration a request for a 75-foot wetland setback waiver so that Jan and Tina Bruecklmeier can erect a horse-grazing fence in the front yard of their 15.8-acre property. at 720 E. Garfield Road.
The Bruecklmeiers said that if they could not graze the horse in the front yard, they would have to cut down a large number of trees in the woods on the south side of the lot to accommodate the pasture there.
“With our intended design, passing cars and neighbors would see only one uniform fence front versus different pieces of divided pasture,” they said. “We feel this will minimize the impact on neighbours.”
Januska said a wetland delineation with ORAM scores by HzW Environmental Consultants has been submitted and Chagrin River watershed partners have reviewed the waiver request.
Meanwhile, the panel sent a positive recommendation to City Council to amend the sections of the City Ordinances dealing with the storage of unwanted waste/vehicles and property maintenance standards.
Offenders would face a fourth-degree misdemeanor for a first offense instead of the current misdemeanor. A second offense within the year would be a third degree misdemeanor and each subsequent offense within a year of the first would be a second degree misdemeanor.
Police Lt. Andrew Lumpkins explained that increasing the sentence by one degree will require those cited to have a hearing, in which case the legal director could discuss the matter with the defendant and, in many cases, reach a resolution. A resolution.
He said that under the current process, when a misdemeanor citation is issued, the culprit goes to court and pays the fine without any input from city officials, and the judge does not routinely order the reduction. of the violation.
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