Elyria Council approves Chestnut Commons road extension design study

ELYRIA — City Council approved spending $450,000 on an environmental and design study for the proposed Chestnut Commons road extension Tuesday. Finance Director Ted Pileski was also authorized to start a capital project fund for the road extension. In last week's Finance Committee meeting, Mayor Frank Whitfield had expressed reservations with the timeline of the projects. Work on the road is expected to begin around April and be completed by October. On Tuesday, Whitfield said he met last week with Dan Reaser, president of DBR Commercial Realty, which donated land and granted an easement for road to be built. Whitfield said he and Reaser had a conversation about the use of the open space around the road extension and what the vision is for the future of Chestnut Commons in general. After that conversation, Whitfield said he felt much more comfortable with the upcoming project. With retail shifting away from Midway Mall, it's likely to start moving toward Chestnut Commons. Whitfield said conversations also started this week about helping businesses leaving Midway Mall relocate within the city. There are still several small businesses left inside the mall, but larger companies like Best Buy are either closing or already shut down. At the ribbon cutting for the Chestnut Commons road extension, Reaser had said he expects development around the area to "explode real quickly." Sixty acres of property were donated by DBR Commercial and Walmart to make way for the connector, which will come off of East Broad Street. The road will cut to the west of Walmart and then north along an easement granted by DBR, ending in a roundabout at the intersection of East Broad Street and Ternes Lane. In other business The city will enter into an agreement with Elyria Township to receive proceeds from land development at the Spiegelberg property.In December, Lorain County commissioners announced that a potential developer will invest about $35 million in improvements and construction.Under Elyria Township's agreement with Elyria, the city will receive 10 percent of the income tax from the first 400 jobs created in the Spiegelberg parcels. If there are more than 400 jobs created, the city will receive 5 percent in income tax for anything over 400. Elyria will supply water to the parcels. Community Development, Finance and Rules committees all will meet 6 p.m. Monday, Jan. 27, starting in City Hall Council Chambers. Contact Laina Yost at (440) 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @MissLainaMae.