Brunswick Hills golf course development subject of heated meeting

BRUNSWICK HILLS TWP. — Three hours into a Brunswick Hills Board of Zoning Appeals meeting Wednesday night, trustees still had not voted to approve a pair of variance applications that would direct the development of nearly 200 acres of land. The variances, put forward by Terry Properties and Palmieri Builders, would alter what is able to be developed on two pieces of land totaling approximately 197 acres. The land includes a 10 acre portion of the Brunswick Hills Golf Course on Center Road, with the remaining 187 acres consisting of the rest of the golf course down to Sleepy Hollow Road and land south of the road as well. Though there is not currently a plan in place to vote on, the intended vote Wednesday night was to determine if Terry Properties and Palmieri Builders could move forward and formulate a plan to develop houses on the 187 acres of the Brunswick Hills Golf Course and and use the 10 acres north of it for commercial reasons. John Slagter from Tucker Ellis LLP, who was representing Terry and Palmieri, brought forward several people – including Dino Palmieri and David Terry – to make the case as to why the land should be rezoned. During the presentations at the Diamond Event Center in Brunswick, 1480 Pearl Road, members of the board heatedly asked questions of the speakers and called out Slagter for what they said were breaches in the application process, including Slagter giving books with detailed information and several exhibits about the variance request just prior to the meeting. At two points in the meeting, board members Bob Murphy and Darryl Lucien each called recesses to discuss if they wanted to continue hearing Slagter's case. In both cases, board chairman Cliff Kersten allowed the testimonies to continue. In a third instance, another break was called due to the number of testimonies brought before the board, which elicited audible frustration from the large crowd in attendance. Several members of the audience also went in front of the board to voice their displeasure with the plan. Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.