Auroraadvocate.com - Retail strip possible at Geauga Lake

by Brent Hovey

Reporter

Bainbridge -- As Cedar Fair Entertainment continues to try to sell about 500 acres where Geauga Lake amusement park was situated, Bainbridge Township is taking an active role.

Township Trustee Jeff Markley said officials are to meet this week with the Richard E. Jacobs Group to discuss the existing site and some opportunities and possible constraints.

Bill Fullington, marketing and communications director for the Jacobs Group, said in an e-mail, "The Jacobs Group will not comment on plans for the parcel until such time as we can make a definitive announcement about its planned use."

Markley said the Jacobs Group is interested in developing 30 acres of which mainly is the existing parking lot along Route 43 north.

It has been reported a big box store and smaller retail and high-end food-related tenants may occupy the parcel if the Jacobs plan moves forward.

Markley said no formal plans have been submitted to the township, but the Jacobs Group is working with the township to make that happen.

The meeting is expected to include Bainbridge Zoning Inspector Michael Joyce, Geauga County Planning Director David Dietrich, Geauga Soil and Water Conservation District, Chagrin River Watershed Partners and other township representatives.

Markley said the meeting will address environmental issues and the impact on wetlands and streams more than anything else.

The Jacobs Group is only interested in the 30 acres, according to Markley. The firm reportedly submitted one of four original bids -- for 100 acres.

IN ADDITION to the Jacobs land deal, Cedar Fair also is looking to sell the former Geauga Lake Hotel and 11 acres surrounding it to a partnership which hopes to open a children's residential center.

Cedar Fair spokesman Stacy Frole told the Advocate recently the two deals are valued in the vicinity of $8 million.

Another developer, whose bid for the remaining land was rejected by Cedar Fair in recent months, reportedly has revised its bid, which will be reviewed.

Markley said for him to support the Jacobs' plan for the 30 acres, it must be evaluated where it fits into a large-scale plan for the entire acreage.

"I'm not interested in a 30-acre plan," he said. "I'm interested in the nearly 600 acres. If they want to develop those 30 acres that's fine, but the land is too important to just start selling off chunks without a comprehensive plan.

"It's too small of a piece to understand how it fits into the bigger picture."

Markley said he would like to see a comprehensive master plan, which the township and city of Aurora can support before Cedar Fair begins selling the land in chunks.

The land is being marketed by Colliers-Ostendorf Morris in Cleveland. Cedar Fair continues to operate Wildwater Kingdom on about 100 acres on the south side of the lake.

Markley said since most of the 30-acre parcel is covered with asphalt, building a shopping center there should have little environmental effect.

"It would bring out more green space than what's there now," he said.

MARKLEY SAID he would like to see the overall Geauga Lake land be used for something beneficial to Bainbridge and Aurora.

"It would be a mixed-use plan," he said. "It would incorporate some kind of residential development, but retail is a component. I'd like to see professional offices. And if I were to dream big, I'd like to see a regional hospital."

Markley has met with an official of Colliers-Ostendorf Morris, but he said it wasn't a formal meeting as he has a personal relationship with him.

"It did give us the opportunity to talk and me to give him my concerns," he said. "I told him absent from a comprehensive plan, we'd be hardpressed to approve a 30-acre plan."

Markley said he and the other trustees have not met with Aurora or Reminderville officials, but plan to do so, and noted one topic which could be discussed is setting up a Joint Economic Development District.

"I'm open to anybody's and everybody's opinion," he said. "I plan to make Aurora a partner at the time when the discussion gets real."

Markley said it's important for the interested municipalities to know what they want and what they would approve since Cedar Fair will do what's best for Cedar Fair.

"They're going to do what's in the best interest of their shareholders," Markley said. "They're a public corporation and whether they have the communities of Bainbridge and Aurora at heart, I'd be suspect."

Markley said the Jacobs Group would like to act quickly on development, but it will take Bainbridge and Aurora some time to get a handle on the situation.

E-mail: bhovey@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3115