Developer to Appear at Boardman Meeting for Meijer Site

BOARDMAN, Ohio – The Boardman Township Board of Trustees will consider Monday whether to accept or reject a recommendation from the zoning commission not to rezone 4.3 acres off Lockwood Boulevard for a proposed Meijer store.

Representatives of Carnegie Management and Development Corp. of Cleveland, the development firm working with Meijer Stores Ltd., will appear before the trustees at their meeting Monday evening, when the zoning board will present its recommendation.

Carnegie vice president of real estate Al Bogna and township officials separately confirmed Wednesday the widely held belief that the company is acting on Meijer’s behalf.

Meijer released Carnegie and the township from confidentiality agreements yesterday to permit them to disclose they were working with the retailer, Bogna said.

That confirmation came the day after the zoning board, by a four-to-one vote, rejected a request to rezone the 4.3 acres in the middle of 38.9 acres of land Meijer is in the process of purchasing from Mercy Health Youngstown LLC. The land is at U.S. Route 224 and Lockwood.

Meijer wants to build a $25 million store that would create more than 300 jobs, according to township administrator Jason Loree.

Approximately 13 acres of the site is already zoned for commercial development and can be developed as is, said Krista Beniston, township director of zoning and development.

Based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Meijer operates more than 230 supercenters and grocery stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin.

About 40 township residents attended Tuesday’s zoning commission meeting, Loree reported. Concerns raised by residents at the hearing related to traffic, wildlife, pedestrians, biking and children.

“We are still planning on appearing before the trustees,” Bogna said.

The company believed it satisfied local needs by structuring a conservation easement to keep 22 acres of the property to remain as woods in perpetuity, expanding the existing easement from 17 acres. “For some reason, local residents did not feel likewise,” he said.

“Boardman trustees may or may not vote” Monday on the recommendation from the planning commission, Loree added. They have 20 days to act once the commission makes its formal recommendation to the board.

“I would urge them to vote by the next trustees meeting in June,” scheduled for June 25, Loree said. “But we’ll see what they do on Monday.”

Bogna said he could not disclose what timetable Meijer had in mind for the development of proposed Boardman store. He did not believe Meijer was considering other options in the township for a store, but could not speak on the company’s behalf.

“This piece of property was their primary interest,” he said. “We’re just focused on this location.”

In 2016 and 2017, Meijer purchased adjacent parcels in Austintown along Mahoning Avenue for a store that is expected to open in 2020 at the earliest.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.