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Mahoning planning commission backs Austintown street extension
AUSTINTOWN
The Mahoning County Planning Commission has approved a developer’s proposal to extend a commercial street in the shadows of the soon-to-open racino and subdivide two lots there into five.
The commission took the action Tuesday concerning the eastward extension of Clarkins Drive by 715 feet to a new dead end, with a cul-de-sac to be installed to facilitate vehicle turn-around.
Clarkins Drive runs east from state Route 46 just north of Interstate 80.
The racino, known as Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, will open this fall on the east side of Route 46 at Silica Road, just south of the interstate interchange.
The street extension and lot subdivision proposal was made by Universal Development Enterprises Inc. of Liberty Township.
All of the land being subdivided is now vacant, except for a climate-controlled storage facility, which will remain on the site; and public water supply and sanitary sewer service are available at the site.
The street extension and land division is designed to accommodate future development, said Darren Crivelli, Austintown zoning inspector. Crivelli said he did not know what form the development would take.
“They haven’t talked to us about any specific proposals,” Crivelli said of Universal officials.
Joseph Gonda, an engineer and co-owner of Buckeye Civil Design of North Lima, who represented Universal at the hearing, said Universal officials hadn’t told him details of Clarkins Drive development plans.
“It’s zoned commercial, so he’s trying to create commercial lots to sell them as commercial lots,” Gonda said of Ron Anderson, Universal’s owner.
“Right now, the building is being used as a storage facility, so on-site parking’s not a big requirement, but yet the property has a huge parking lot, so he wants to better utilize that by creating a new roadway, so he can sell off that parking lot so that somebody can come in and develop it,” Gonda said.
Universal officials could not be reached for comment.
A planning commission document says all utilities shall be placed underground and existing trees retained, wherever possible.
The developer must file stormwater drainage calculations with the county engineer’s office supporting the type and size of storm sewer systems and any stormwater detention systems that may be needed.
The developer must also file a sediment control plan with the engineer’s office, which must approve it before any earth-moving takes place; and the developer must notify the engineer three days before any construction starts to establish an inspection schedule.
Gonda recalled that the planning commission had previously approved this Clarkins Drive proposal sometime between 2005 and 2008, but the approval expired because construction wasn’t started within two years.