AURORA – American Transmission Systems intends to repair a landslide along its newly installed transmission line (old Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks) after the planning commission granted a 50-foot riparian setback variance.
The area where the landslide occurred is a few hundred feet north of the Silver Creek Church (formerly Lakeview Chapel) parking lot and directly west of the city’s Central wastewater treatment plant.
ATS, a FirstEnergy company, is calling the repair operation the Northern Portage Slip Repair Project. The existing 69kv line is adjacent to underground fiber optic and natural gas pipeline rights-of-way.
According to FirstEnergy representative Daniel Havalo, the hillside downstream from a culvert has eroded, creating a landslide of the slope above a stream.
“The collapse of the hillside has the potential to infringe upon the existing utility structures supporting the 69kv line,” said Havalo. “ATSI intends to replace the culvert with a rip-rap-lined stream channel while stabilizing the banks and upland slope area.”
He added ATSI plans to access the project area via temporary access roads within the right-of-way, an existing road established along the former railroad corridor and public and/or private drives.
Of three streams running through the area, only one will be subjected to earth disturbing activities. And that is why the 50-foot setback variance was sought.
The Chagrin River Watershed Partners reviewed ATSI’s plans and recommended permanent seeding to ensure successful establishment of native vegetation in the riparian setback.
The agency also suggested the city should consider working with the owner of upstream land where a pond is located so retrofitting could add water storage capacity during and after storm events.
According to CRWP, that would decrease the erosive force of water flowing through the stabilized stream channel.
OTHER BUSINESS
The planning panel OK’d a final site plan for K&M Tire’s proposed 130,000-square-foot warehouse at Francis D. Kenneth and Campus drives in the southern industrial zone. Curtis Layer will erect the building on 13.9 acres.
Although the zoning code requires 174 parking spaces for an operation of that size, the approval will allow the site to have 43 paved spaces and 131 land-banked spaces. The planning panel OK’d wetlands setback variances in August.
The panel also granted a 75-foot wetlands setback variance so grading can be done at a 14-acre property owned by Jeff and Meghan Bradish at 660 E. Garfield Road. The couple plans to build a single-family home there.
David Hesse of Payne & Payne Builders said the proposed home will be built about 600 feet from the road, and its proposed original location was moved 150 feet to allow for a future pool and barn.
He added setting the house back 75 feet from the wetlands and grading into the wetlands setback area will allow for proper drainage once the home is completed.
The planning panel granted a 74-foot wetlands setback variance in May 2021 for a driveway on the property.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit dated Oct. 12, recommended that an 18-foot long by 18-inch diameter culvert be placed across a stream and allowed a Category 3 wetlands to be filled.
The Chagrin River Watershed Partners recommended that no clearing or grading be done beyond what is minimally necessary and native vegetation be retained to the maximum extent possible.
Items pending on the panel’s agenda are preliminary/final site plans for Bertram Inn condominiums and Renaissance Park at Geauga Lake East Phases 2-3, final site plan for a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall and a revised development plan and preliminary/final site plans for Walden Arboretum subdivision.
Contact the newspaper at auroraadvocate@recordpub.com.
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