New development proposed near I-71

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SUNBURY — Future development is being proposed at Fourwinds Drive and Fourwinds Court off of U.S. Route 36 and state Route 37.

The Village of Sunbury’s Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing last month regarding rezoning 53 acres on two parcels south of Fourwinds Court from not zoned to a Planned Commercial District. The property has a mailing address of 259 S. Three B’s and K Road, Galena.

The rezoning was requested by MTB Fourwinds, LLC, and EMME Holdings, LLC, which also met with the commission in August. At that meeting, representative Aron Underhill gave an informal review to the commission.

According to the meeting minutes, Underhill “noted that the parcel was zoned commercial under Berkshire Township prior to annexation. He added that a development agreement has been negotiated. Underhill stated that the project has been divided into two subareas.”

Subarea 1 is 5.2 acres by Fourwinds Court behind the Panera and White Castle to the east and the Cracker Barrel and Ohio Department of Transportation maintenance facility to the west.

There is interest in developing a hotel in the first subarea. Fourwinds Drive would be extended south in the first of two phases.

Subarea 2 comprises 47.8 acres and is behind Wendy’s, Shell and McDonald’s. It extends to Interstate 71 to the east and to Three B’s and K Road to the west. Fourwinds Drive would be extended further south, expanding to a three-lane road and eventually connecting to the proposed Sunbury Parkway. The road plan also calls for east and west public streets, with north/south access. The minutes state Underhill said, “The plan includes a temporary access point for ODOT to allow for access to the traffic light on Fourwinds Drive.”

Also in subarea 2 was proposed “age-restricted (55-plus) multi-family use.”

Comments and questions pertained to building height and signage. Commission member Rick Ryba said that “planned commercial is the most appropriate zoning.”

In 2016, Sunbury adopted a Comprehensive Growth Plan prepared by the Delaware County Regional Planning Commission. For future economic development, the plan said, “The village should use its commercially-zoned land wisely to attract businesses that pay significant property tax and income tax.”

For commercial and industrial development, one of the goals was to “encourage commercial, office, and light industrial development in the U.S. 36 corridor.” An action step was to “use parallel frontage or back roads on U.S. 36 to control access, based on ODOT’s Access Management Plan.”

The Comprehensive Plan states future transportation action steps include:

• Cooperate with ODOT on removing/preventing unnecessary commercial curb cuts on U.S. 36.

• Require commercial parallel access roads and connections between planned commercial developments along major arterial roads, especially U.S. 36.

The plan concludes with recommendations for the 609-acre Sunbury Parkway Corridor. Among those were, “Appropriate connections should be made to the extensions of Fourwinds Drive and South Wilson Road, as well as careful intersection spacing throughout the corridor. Individual driveways should be limited to major intersections, with back roads providing interconnectivity.”

https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/10/web1_Sunbury-2.jpg

A look at the two proposed subareas for the Fourwinds Planned Commercial District.
https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2020/10/web1_Fourwinds.jpgA look at the two proposed subareas for the Fourwinds Planned Commercial District. Courtesy image

By Gary Budzak

[email protected]

Gary Budzak may be reached at 740-413-0906 or on Twitter @GaryBudzak.

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