ASHTABULA – The City of Ashtabula Planning Commission approved a parking variance for Volker Development’s planned Cottages on West project at its Oct. 15th meeting.
Set to be located at 2255 West Ave., the development will have 80 residential units for seniors 55 and older.
Because the city’s codified ordinances call for two parking spaces per residential dwelling, the project would have been required to have 160 parking spaces.
Volker, however, asked for a parking variance to allow a parking ratio of 1.5 parking spaces per residential dwelling unit, for a total of 120 residential parking spaces.
In a Sept. 11th letter to Mary Church, the city’s assistant director of planning, Greg Baron, managing director of development for Volker Development Inc., made the request for the parking variance.
“Accordingly, we respectfully request that the City of Ashtabula Planning Commission grant relief from the parking requirement under Chapter 1149.01 and approve a parking ratio of 1.5 spaces per residential dwelling unit, or 120 residential parking spaces, for the Cottages on West project,” he wrote.
He wrote that the proposed ratio was substantially higher than the ratios at comparable senior communities in northeast Ohio, and would provide more than adequate parking capacity for the Cottages on West.
“Based on our experience owning and operating senior communities, these properties demonstrate significantly lower parking demand than our family-oriented rental properties,” he wrote.
At the meeting, Baron spoke to the commission about what he had covered in his letter to Church.
“We are an affordable housing developer,” he said. “We’re proposing and in the process of developing the Cottages on West project at 2255 West Ave. The project will include 80 single-story cottage units for seniors 55 and older. The current code calls for two parking spaces per unit, whether it’s one-bedroom or two-bedroom, so we are requesting relief to allow for a 1.5 ratio, which is 120 parking spots as opposed to the 160.”
He also noted there will be a clubhouse/community building that will have parking spaces. In addition, a mail kiosk and numerous dumpster enclosures will have temporary parking spaces. Baron said the company will also meet the requirements for handicap parking spaces.
Baron was asked if the parking ratio would accommodate visitors. He said it would.
Following the meeting, Baron provided some information about the Cottages on West project, when asked for comment by the Gazette.
He said Volker Development, a national affordable housing developer, received tax credits from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency this past Spring to build the 80-unit single-story cottage-style development for seniors.
He noted all the development’s planned features.
“We’ll have amenities on site,” he added. “We’ll have a clubhouse. We’ll have a fitness center, on-site laundry. The units will have washer and dryer hookups. We also, through our property management company, will offer supportive services to the seniors. So, the property manager will connect seniors to different services here in the area.”
Baron said the construction schedule will be about 14 months. It’s hoped construction will start in April.
“We are shooting for April,” he said. “No guarantee that that’ll be the exact timeline. But yeah, fingers crossed we’re able to start in April.”
He explained how Ashtabula was chosen for the development.
He said the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, through its tax credit program, has a Qualified Allocation Plan, and certain communities and census tracks throughout the state score well.
“And Ashtabula happened to be one of those areas,” he said. He thought there was a big need for affordable housing in Ashtabula.
Baron noted that Volker has a presence in northeast Ohio.
“We’ve recently, as a company, been working to expand and provide affordable housing opportunities throughout the state of Ohio, and Ashtabula was a great fit for us,” he added. “A lot of it’s based on the need for affordable housing.”
The units will be all rentals that are income-based.
“It’s a scale between 30 percent of Area Median Income and 70 percent of Area Median Income,” Baron said.
He was happy that the parking variance was granted.
“Absolutely,” he said.
