Woodmere P&Z discusses proposed multi-family project | Local News

A proposed $25 million boutique multi-family community complex by Activity Capital of Woodmere and RHM Real Estate Group of Lyndhurst is still under discussion in Woodmere.

The village’s planning and zoning commission met for almost two hours on April 13, hearing from the developers about the proposed project near the corner of Chagrin Boulevard and Brainard Road. The project would abut an existing commercial district and offer an array of housing options, from one-bedroom apartments to two-story homes if accepted. Daryl Kertesz is the founder and principal of Activity Capital, a real estate investment firm. John Joyce is the founder and CEO of RHM Real Estate Group.

Community members were also in attendance, both virtually and in person. As a result, the village’s planning and zoning commission is now tasked to prepare recommendations to bring to village council so it could vote on rezoning the parcel, which is zoned for single-family dwellings, Dave Effron, chair of Woodmere’s planning and zoning commission, told the Cleveland Jewish News April 13. At the meeting, the developers gave a frequently-asked questions presentation as a response to a town-hall meeting the village hosted at the end of March regarding the project.

“Attendees heard from myself and a few others from the planning and zoning commission, too,” Effron said. “It was up to us last night to make recommendations to place in that report that we’ll pass onto council in two weeks.”

As the conversation went last night, Effron said he, along with two other members of the planning and zoning commission, Tennyson Adams and Morgan Ford, voted not in favor of the adjustment to the city’s ordinance to create the new multi-family zone within that single-family zoning area.

“That is how it stood last night, and Mayor Benjamin Holbert, who is also a voting member, chose to abstain from making a statement. He said he was at the point where more information is needed, and I agree. We’re trying to follow the laws and still do it in a timely manner for everyone.”

Effron said planning and zoning is preparing the recommendation for council, so the process remains in “a limbo area.” Council will meet again before a public hearing is held at 7 p.m. May 16. A decision will come after that public hearing by the end of May.

“I would like to know more, but given the fact that we have to make a decision on this basically right now, my stance at the moment is to not allow the rezoning of that parcel,” Effron said. “I don’t know if this was gone about the best way possible. So, we’re going to recommend not to adopt, but it is up to council in the end.”

Kertesz, in an emailed statement sent to the CJN, said Activity Capital and RHM Real Estate Group are “excited about the positive impact this project will have in reversing the Village’s precipitous decline in population and loss of tax base, which if left unaddressed, will almost certainly place a growing financial burden on Village residents.”

“Big problems require meaningful solutions, and this type of project is exactly what conscientious elected officials are approving in Northeast Ohio and across the country right now,” he wrote. “We look forward to working collaboratively with village council to demonstrate how the addition of our project to the village landscape will meaningfully address these crises, which the village self-identified in its 2021 Master Plan, while maintaining the secluded nature of the existing residential streets.”

Holbert told the CJN the developers came to Woodmere leadership about 2½ years ago before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

“There are pros and cons to the project, and hopefully we can either work through it, or decide that it might not be in the best interest of the community,” he said. “I’m curious to see how this process goes.”