Discussions between Cedar Crest’s would-be developers and eastside planning commissioners are now deep in the weeds, said Peter Barnes, Summit County’s community development director.
“I don't think it's out of hand, but it got seriously complex and very nuanced in the discussion,” he said. “I think planning commission and the applicant and the public are all frustrated.”
Barnes said the developers have been reluctant or unable to answer some of the planning commissioner’s more direct questions during past public hearings.
“Probably the one that comes up most often is the traffic study and the affordability component,” he said, “and what is really being proposed in terms of density—and not what is being asked for—but what might be achievable on the lots.”
Larry H. Miller Real Estate and Ivory Homes have proposed 2,000 units phased in over decades, placing those units strategically to preserve open space. The decades-long buildout is part of what Barnes said is making discussions and precise predictions difficult.
The developers are asking the county to rezone the area from agricultural to “village overlay,” a new category created to concentrate future eastside growth in unincorporated areas like Hoytsville that have their own unique community character.
But the county’s village overlay code allows four units per acre, which would create the potential for double the units Larry H. Miller and Ivory are proposing.
While they hit the drawing board, the Summit County planning department has taken the item off the Eastern Summit County Planning Commission’s agenda.
“We will completely re-notice, a new public hearing when the appropriate level of information comes into play,” Barnes said.
A Larry H. Miller Real Estate spokesperson said they don’t yet have updates to share about the behind-the-scenes dialogue.
It’s been one year since a subcommittee of local landowners and planning officials recommended the village idea to the planning commission.
It was originally in the hands of landowners, including three of the biggest farming families, who say traditional farming is on the decline in Hoytsville. They spoke with developers and chose Miller and Ivory to carry the baton to the planning commission and eventually the Summit County Council.
Barnes said the applicants will likely want to appear before the council as soon as possible, but he doesn’t know if that can happen before the end of the year.
