Avon Planning Commission OKs new YMCA and shopping center
Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram
AVON — While restaurants, grocery stores and retailers continue to close their doors elsewhere, they keep opening new doors in Avon.
The Planning Commission Wednesday night approved site plans for the 67,000-square-foot French Creek YMCA, the 79,000-square-foot Heritage Village shopping center, a 6,300-square-foot AutoZone and a 6,034-square-foot Enger Tire Service.
The commission also agreed to review plans at a special meeting Sept. 3 for an additional 5,300 square feet of strip mall build-outs in front of Heritage Village.
Mayor Jim Smith said he sees developer interest in Avon as a precursor to an economic turnaround for the rest of the county.
“I think the economy in Lorain County is starting to come back,” he said. “We were at such a low point for a long time that we got really beat up, but it’s not going to be that way forever.”
He said there are 290,000 people living within a 15-minute drive of Avon, and they’re all looking for nice places to shop.
Avon is cashing in on traffic from Interstate 90, and it’s only a matter of time until the resurfacing of state Route 57 and other factors get the entire county back on its feet, Smith said.
He said the French Creek YMCA, located next to Avon’s new ballpark on Interstate 90, will likely break ground by the beginning of October and will include two swimming pools and basketball courts.
Heritage Village is planned for Detroit Road across the street from Avon Heritage North Elementary School. Plans show space for an anchor store slightly smaller than a big box, as well as several smaller shopfronts.
Two strip malls will be constructed at the front of the property, pending commission approval, according to site plans submitted by Elyria-based KS Associates.
AutoZone’s plans were approved to build on Chester Road, next to the new Lowe’s Home Improvement big-box currently under construction.
And site drawings show Enger Tire will open on Colorado Avenue between Moore Road and Doovys Street — if City Council approves rezoning for the land at its Sept. 9 meeting.
“We’re seeing growing pains, but we’re glad to have them. It shows things are moving in the right direction,” Smith said. “It will mean some extra traffic, but the revenue from new businesses is what helps keep taxes down.”
Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chronclet.com.
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Filed by Jason Hawk | The Chronicle-Telegram August 21st, 2008 in Top Stories. Popularity: 6% |
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Comments
Comment from
WL_NR_2004
August 21, 2008, 11:15 am
Why are they starting a new commercial development when the land and Detroit and 83 has been cleared for a year and nothing has been done with it?
Comment from
Sarcasm101
August 21, 2008, 8:54 pm
Not
In
My
BackYard
Growth for the rest of the county…what a joke and a selfish one at that…if he really cared.
I don’t know if it is true or not but my money is that once that new JCPenney opens in Avon, the Elyria location will CLOSE ITS DOORS. Midway mall will be dead!
Look in the Chronicle today even, Linen’s N Things closes its doors…cost of doing business in AVON is TOO HIGH!!!
The traffic in Avon is a joke, build, build, build, TAX, TAX, TAX. Who is getting TAXED? The people of Avon who have to live with all this crap-tail that they are allowing to be built. Read up on the TWO, countem TWO levy’s being placed on the November ballot in Avon asking their TAXPAYERS for MORE!
The “Buy it today, throw it away tomorrow” strategy of this country is going to ruin this country…most likely already has just try to sell your house.
Comment from
crystal forest
August 22, 2008, 8:06 am
1st of all Linens and Things as a corporation filed for bankruptcy.
2nd does this mean you will be moving out of Avon?
3rd I wish they wouldn’t build J.C. Penny’s, Kohl’s, Bob Evans, Perkins, etc. in Avon. These types of establishments attract people from Lorain.
Comment from
JAWBONE
August 22, 2008, 8:23 am
businesses build where people spend money. Crystal, if all those stores you listed were in down-town Lorain today, I wouldn’t go there to shop.
Comment from
leamull
August 22, 2008, 1:43 pm
At least they are getting more nice businesses. I live in Lagrange and they just put up a horrible Dollar General, and two buildings down are now building a freaking Family Dollar.
These are directly in from of the 200+ $350,000 homes that have been built in Union Station and Durham Ridge.
Somebody dropped the ball on this one. Yuck.
NIMBY’s in Avon, be glad your quarter million dollar homes (or any of your homes for that matter) aren’t guarded by a cheaply built dollar store at their entrances.
Comment from
maerd
August 22, 2008, 5:11 pm
leamull - If given the chance of living in Avon with my quarter million dollar home and all those attractive well built stores and the thousands and thousands of cars that go by every day and living in Lagrange with the cheaply built Dollar Store guarding the entrance to my quarter million dollar home I will chose Lagrange.
**Hey is that cow poop I smell**
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