Auroraadvocate.com - Jacobs Group decides not to develop park's 30 acres

by Brent Hovey

Reporter

Bainbridge -- It's back to square one, or actually, back to nothing.

A developer has told Bainbridge Township officials it does not intend to develop land where the former Geauga Lake Park parking lot was.

Bainbridge Zoning Inspector Michael Joyce said James Eppele of the Jacobs Group told him recently the company decided not to build a retail center.

The reason, according to Joyce, was the anchor store of what was to be a 30-acre development pulled out and "it's not a good time to build without that anchor store."

Joyce confirmed the anchor store was going to be a department chain, but said the Jacobs Group would not divulge which one.

Calls and e-mails to Cedar Fair were not returned by press time, and the Jacob Group refused to comment.

In November, Bainbridge officials met with the Jacobs Group and talked about developing the parking lot area.

The plan was to have the department store be the center of a 100,000-square-foot shopping strip, which also would have included smaller businesses and buildings.

There also were plans for three "upper-end eateries," according to Joyce.

The proposal called for lot coverage of nearly 70 percent of the 30 acres. Joyce said township zoning regulations allow only 40 percent.

"They would've had a difficult time getting variances even if they decided to develop," he said.

According to Joyce, Bainbridge Township isn't actively looking for developers for the land, but is working with Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. to try to find a buyer.

"WE WILL work with whomever they want to develop the land to save as much of the natural resources as possible," said Joyce. "We'd like to see the property used up by the amusement park as the base and not have more trees cut down."

In November when talks began with the Jacobs Group, Township Trustee Jeff Markley said he was more interested in a development plan for the entire 400 to 500 acres at Geauga Lake Park, not just for the 30 acres.

Joyce agreed trustees would like to see a complete plan for the acreage, but said that would be difficult to do in the current economic times.

Joyce said because of the economic situation, Cedar Fair officials told him they would be willing to wait up to five years to sell the land because they aren't getting a good idea of what the land is worth.

Reportedly, the Jacobs Group submitted one of the original four bids for the Geauga Lake land.

Of those four original bids, one was accepted, one was withdrawn and the other two were rejected by Cedar Fair.

Grant Edward Enterprises is seeking to buy the former Geauga Lake Hotel and the 11 acres it sets on for a children's residential center.

A conditional zoning certificate would be needed for such a use, and Aurora's planning commission recently turned down an application for such a certificate.

E-mail:

bhovey@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3115