Public hearings held for expansion of Medina-Montville Township JEDD

MEDINA — Medina and Montville Township officials are going through the steps to expand the Medina-Montville Township Joint Economic Development District by four parcels. On Monday, Medina Economic Development Director Kimberly Marshall spoke briefly about the project during the Medina Finance Committee meeting and again during a public hearing before the Medina City Council meeting. Marshall said there are four parcels on Wooster Pike Road, north of Cobblestone Drive, that have asked to join the Medina-Montville Township JEDD. The parcels make up more than 50 acres of land, she said. A JEDD is a special district created under a contract between townships and municipal corporations to create a space for economic development. In December 2009, Medina and Montville Township created the voluntary JEDD within commercial zones alongside portions of state Route 3 and state Route 18 in the township. With a JEDD, the city and township share the revenue from the collected income taxes, which the township originally can not do as a non-taxing authority. The parcels are split between two owners, Marshall said, with two parcels owned by Lakefront Ohio LLC., and the other two by Cobblestone Crossings LLC. As part of the amendment process, Lakefront Ohio and Cobblestone Crossings both submitted a petition to be included within the Medina-Montville Township JEDD. On May 14, the Medina-Montville Township JEDD Board met and recommended the addition of the two petitioned areas, which would then expand the Medina-Montville Township JEDD to include the four parcels. During Monday's public hearing, Katie Wojno Lancianese of Cobblestone Crossings spoke on behalf of the project, stating they've been working with both Montville Township and the city for a couple of years to be added to the Medina-Montville Township JEDD. "There's projects in place currently that we're working through final approvals for multifamily rentals, a VA clinic, and working on approvals right now for an assisted living facility," she said. Earlier, Marshall noted that this would be the first time there would be residential properties within the Medina-Montville Township JEDD. Additionally, Wojno Lancianese said there is development planned further north with large commercial projects, but those remain to be determined. Following the city's public hearing, the Montville Township trustees held a public hearing for the amendment on Tuesday. Montville Township trustee Sally Albrecht said that everything went through. Medina City Council's next meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 at Medina City Hall, 132 N. Elmwood Ave. Contact reporter Sara Crawford at (330) 721-4063 or scrawford@medina-gazette.com.