A shopping development featuring Menards and Meijer stores is being proposed in Brimfield Township amid concern by residents about traffic flow.
Brimfield’s Zoning Commission recently recommended that the township trustees rezone the former Maplecrest Golf Club on Tallmadge Road for the retail project, Brimfield Township Zoning Inspector Dick Messner said.
The golf club closed at the end of the last season, Messner said. The former course is 126 acres.
A public hearing will be held by the Brimfield Township trustees at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Brimfield Town Hall, 1333 Tallmadge Road, to discuss the proposed zoning change to allow for the new retail development.
DeHoff Development wants to build the home improvement store and grocery store directly across the Cascades Retail Center, which features a Lowe’s, Wal-Mart and Kohl’s, among other retail stores and restaurants.
The road in front of the development is currently a two-lane road and would need to be widened to handle the increased traffic, Messner said.
“Traffic there is very bad,” he said.
Messner said there have been traffic studies and proposals to widen both Tallmadge Road — a state road — and discussions by the Ohio Department of Transportation to reconfigure the highway interchange with Interstate 76. But it is unknown whether those would work with the time frame of the proposed new stores.
No construction dates have been disclosed by the developers, he said.
Residents have expressed concerns about traffic at meetings, Messner said.
“A lot of the conversations presented have to do with traffic flow,” he said.
The trustees are expected to take action at the Wednesday night meeting, which officials anticipate will draw a crowd.
The zoning commission recommended the front part of the land be rezoned from residential office to general commercial and the back or north end be rezoned for light industrial. The commission made the recommendation after consulting with the Portage County Regional Planning Commission, Messner said.
Trustees could accept the recommendation, modify it, send it back for restudy or turn it down, he said.
Meijer is planning another store at the former Stow-Kent Plaza off state Route 59 in Stow. Stow city officials have said they’ve been told they’re on track for a store to begin building by the end of 2017 or early 2018. It would be the first Akron-area store.
The Akron area’s first Menards also is on track for a groundbreaking in Cuyahoga Falls on Graham Road this year, with completion next year, according to Falls officials.
Betty Lin-Fisher can be reached at 330-996-3724 or blinfisher@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her @blinfisherABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/BettyLinFisherABJ and see all her stories at www.ohio.com/betty