TRUMBULL COUNTY 2 businesses plan new sites
Cortland and Bazetta officials say they are excited about new developments and the future.
WARREN -- Two established businesses in Trumbull County -- Seven Seventeen Credit Union and Wal-Mart -- plan to grow in Cortland city and Bazetta Township.
The credit union broke ground Wednesday for a service center on state Route 46 near state Route 305. Wal-Mart, meanwhile, has expressed an unofficial interest in land off the Warren Outerbelt (state Routes 5 and 82) and Elm Road for a Supercenter.
Seven Seventeen Credit Union has headquarters and a service center on Larchmont Avenue and nine other locations including Howland and Vienna.
Wal-Mart currently has a large store off Elm Road at 2015 Wal-Mart Drive N.E.
Both of the expansion projects have local officials brimming with optimism for future development.
"This is the beginning of the development down on that corner," Cortland Mayor Curt Moll said of the Routes46/305 area.
The city envisions plazas and dining taking off there; voters last year approved liquor options there and real estate companies are advertising available land at the four corners.
Though no earth is moving yet, the Wal-Mart project would be a much more massive undertaking. "Whatever we can do to get that project rolling along, we would do," said Michael Piros, Bazetta Township trustee chairman.
David Dubiaga, plats and zoning coordinator at the Trumbull County Planning Commission, said the Wal-Mart Supercenter is not definite but that "it looks good."
Wal-Mart
Land development engineers KS Associates of Elyria and Scott & amp; Goble Architects of Tulsa, Okla., have contacted the county's building inspection office, sanitary engineer and road engineer; the soil has been tested and wetland permits have been secured through the Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency.
The site, which would be on an extension of Millennium Boulevard off Elm Road behind a car wash and motorcycle store, already has Warren water and a Trumbull County sewer, Dubiaga explained. It is zoned industrial and is fairly flat.
Wal-Mart of Bentonville, Ark., has submitted an unofficial plan to the county showing that the 203,000-square-foot facility would offer a grocery, seasonal garden center, gas station, lube/tire center and other amenities. Dubiaga said it is hoped a preliminary plan will be given to the planning commission in July.
Dubiaga and Piros said construction could begin in 2006.
"It's almost 1,100 parking spots, so this is huge," Piros noted. "It's going to happen."
Piros explained that Wal-Mart's current Elm Road location is one of the largest volume stores in Ohio. "When they looked at that, they just decided to stay in Bazetta, and we're just delighted," he said.
The fate of the current building has not been determined, Piros said.
Both Piros and Dubiaga expressed concern about traffic congestion at the Outerbelt and Elm Road, where there's already a Pontiac dealership, lumber company and a plaza.
"We know that's a very congested area with the bypass and Hoagland-Blackstub Road coming out there by Cole Valley and Carter Lumber," Piros said. The trustee said Wal-Mart's architect is working with the Ohio Department of Transportation on the possibility of a traffic signal and possibly some road realignment.
Seven Seventeen
Farther up Elm Road in Cortland, the new Seven Seventeen office is expected to take some pressure off of the busy service center at the Larchmont headquarters, Moll explained.
The $900,000, 3,600-square-foot building will be on a 36,000-square-foot on Route 46 south of Windsor Place and north of Route 305, and will have 30 parking spaces.
The land was owned since 1978 by Lewis Development of Warren, which is considering a small office building there. "We look forward to adding to what Seven Seventeen is doing," said Dennis B. Lewis Sr.
"They decided the best location for their business is that four corners area, and also to service the new growth obviously coming up and down 46," he said. "There's a lot of good growth going on and nice homes being built south of 305."
According to city zoning commission minutes, the credit union's service center will handle loans and other financial items. There will be an ATM drive-up under a canopy. A prototype facility in the Kent/Ravenna area that has won design awards.
As the area takes off there also could be traffic concerns for getting back onto Route 46; a boulevard is planned at the project site in the future, the zoning commission's notes state.