HUDSON, OH (August 28, 2019) – At Monday’s meeting, Planning Commission unanimously approved the final plan for Phase A of Downtown Phase II. Phase A only focuses on the residential units north of Owen Brown excluding Block C. These units will be constructed first, with the commercial buildings coming before Council and Planning Commission later. Some of the conditions Planning Commission put on its approval include:
- The final plan approval is limited to Blocks D, E, F, G and H, the residential portion.
- The street tree placement would be approved by the City Arborist, in consultation with Tree Commission.
- An exterior lighting plan must be submitted.
- The north/south median could be removed if needed for traffic or engineering concerns.
- Post-development traffic counts will be performed, and control measures would be implemented if necessary.
- The Phase A plat will be revised to show 10 housing units in Block G and the existing gas well, with setbacks. Also, the plan boundary will incorporate the open space at the northeast corner of Owen Brown Street and Morse Road.
- The developer must submit a performance guarantee of 110% of the City Engineer’s estimate for the cost of the public improvements in Phase A.
- It is subject to City Council’s acceptance of the Planning Commission decision.
At Tuesday’s workshop meeting, City Council discussed the final plan approved by Planning Commission. Downtown Phase II has gone through more than 40 revisions over the past few years based on input from citizens, Planning Commission, and City Council. In the final plan before Council, the density has been reduced 29%, with more single-family detached homes added to the housing mix. The current plan includes 82 residential units and 20 condominiums. The condominiums are not being considered in this Phase A approval. They will be in the mixed-use portion of the development to go before Planning Commission at a later date.
While not included in this Phase A plan, the commercial density was decreased 18% down to 110,000 square feet, and the parking structure was removed from the plan. The reduced density will improve traffic impacts.
The traffic impact of Phase A was also discussed at the workshop. According to Community Development Director Greg Hannan, the traffic studies show that the residential portion of the project will have less than half the traffic counts than when the Hudson Public Power and school bus garage buildings were in use. Therefore, there is no need for traffic control or restrictors at this point in the project. A traffic study would be performed at the completion of Phase A to confirm the estimates were correct and that no additional traffic control measures need be taken at this time. Additional traffic control features would be added with the construction of the commercial portion of the project to follow later.
The developer Joel Testa attended the meeting and reviewed the types of housing planned for the development. Housing in Phase A will include 36 single-family detached homes, 10 detached homes in a pocket neighborhood, 22 single-family attached homes, and 14 attached townhomes.
A motion to approve the Downtown Phase II, Phase A, Final Plan will appear on the September 3, 2019 meeting agenda.
The full City Council discussion of Phase II can be viewed on the City’s website at https://www.hudson.oh.us/814/Council-Agendas-Minutes-Videos. More information about the project can be found at www.hudson.oh.us/DowntownPhase2.