STOW: City Council’s Planning Commission on Monday reviewed a $5 million proposal by auto dealer Ron Marhofer that includes rezoning three properties from residential to commercial.
The commission recessed its meeting without voting, citing the absence of two members, and said it will discuss the proposal in more detail at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Marhofer, who originally requested the zoning change in June 2012, wants to expand his dealership at the corner of Darrow and Kent roads. The renovation would require razing three homes — 1941, 1947 and 1955 Thorndale Ave. — that are located on property currently zoned for single-family residences.
The lots total approximately 1.3 acres.
Planning Director Rob Kurtz said the Planning Commission reviewed the request at three meetings: May 22, 2012; June 12, 2012; and Sept. 10, 2013. At the third meeting, the commission recommended that City Council approve Marhofer’s request.
Kurtz said details of the site plan are a separate issue from the zoning decision and “will have to be discussed in the future.”
The dealership’s expansion plan, which includes changes to the landscape, has been a long-standing issue between Marhofer, city officials and nearby residents.
Terry May, who said she has lived on Thorndale Avenue for more than 41 years, has been present at several meetings to express her concerns with the proposal.
She said Monday that when she sits on her front porch she doesn’t see the dealership or the roadway, only the trees that surround her neighborhood. May asked the commission if members had the opportunity to visit her neighborhood and see the view from her front porch as it exists now.
John Slagter of the law firm Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs was present at the meeting Sept. 10 and Monday to represent Marhofer.
“This is an investment for this city,” he said Monday. “We believe that the city deserves this. This is a $5 million investment.”