By TERRY BRLAS

Strongsville Post editor

Area residents may have one more place to do their weekly grocery shopping and one less place to tune up their golf game.

A 92,600-square-foot Giant Eagle is being proposed for the current Strongsville Golf site at 15919 Pearl Road. The zoning modifications would have to be voted on by residents in March. If approved the current Giant Eagle store, which is approximately 20,000-25,000-square-feet smaller than the proposed grocery, next to SouthPark Mall would close.

Strongsville City Council heard from the parties involved at the Nov. 21 regular council meeting in the Mike Kalinich Sr. Council Chamber.

The front portion of the current Strongsville Golf property is zoned recreation/restaurant (R-RS). The rear portion is zoned residential (R1-75).

Council can change the R-RS zoning to general business (GB) without it going on the ballot. Council did not vote on the zoning change because the body wants to wait and see the result of the vote by residents regarding the change of R1-75 to GB. The vote must pass in Ward 2 where the business would be located and citywide. A no majority vote in either situation means the rezoning is rejected.

Should the vote be a favorable one the new grocery store would begin construction in early summer with a target completion date by the beginning of 2013 according to Philip Bishop, vice president, engineering with Echo Real Realty, the Pittsburgh-based development arm of Giant Eagle.

St. John Neumann Church is situated to the south of the property and Altenheim Skilled Nursing Facility is to the north. According to Bishop discussions have not taken place with representatives of St. John Church, but have taken place with individuals from Altenheim.

Bishop is planning a town hall meeting for residents in the near future.

"We want to get ideas for what is out there and how we can make this work for all of us," he said.

Supermarket hours would be 24/7 while the pharmacy would be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday with weekend hours to be determined.

Nick Catanzarite, an attorney with the law firm of Walter & Haverfield LLP, represents the interests of Strongsville Golf. He was at council requesting that the entire property be rezoned general business and placed on the March ballot.

A purchase and sale agreement is in place for Strongsville Golf to sell the entire 13.5 acres to Echo Realty.

"The widening of Pearl Road certainly created an opportunity for this project to happen," Catanzarite said. "I would love to see this happen as a resident and as a representative of the property owner."

Catanzarite also represents the interests of the property owner of a 5-acre parcel of land directly north of St. John Neumann Church and unoccupied.

"It is a possibility that this plan would expand," he said. "As for the Altenheim piece I spoke with their attorney (David Knowles). We are going to sit down with the residents to address concerns that they have."

Bishop stated he would hope that a traffic signal would be added on Pearl Road to accommodate traffic in and out of the proposed Giant Eagle. The only access to the store would be from Pearl Road. Raccoon Road at the rear of the site would not be extended.

Setback requirements to the rear of the property call for a 10-foot setback and 30-foot building setback. Bishop is proposing a 30-foot landscaped setback with a possible 6-foot planting mound and an earthen berm with evergreen plantings. He is proposing an 80-foot building setback.

"We are cognizant of the residents to the rear. We want to make sure we are buffering that area beyond and above what is required in the current ordinance," Bishop said. "I won't get into details regarding parking, but we will exceed whatever is required of the ordinance."

The store itself would be a signature store with offerings and amenities not available at it existing Strongsville store according to Pat Avolio, director of real estate and construction for Giant Eagle.

"This represents a multi-million dollar investment by Giant Eagle," Avolio said. "We are trying to offer the services and amenities that can't be offered in the existing supermarket, which is somewhat landlocked."

Health and wellness expansion is one aspect of the new proposed store. An in-store dietitian will be available for consultations. The pharmacy will have a drive-through that will permit the dropping off and picking up of prescriptions.

A cheese section with approximately 400 different varieties would be separate from the deli. Meat and seafood departments would be expanded.

The proposed store would also include a 30-40 seat Wi-Fi cafe. There will be a hot food and salad bar that is larger than what Giant Eagle currently offers along with made to order subs and pizza according to Avolio.

One resident came forward to express support and one resident stated his opposition to the project at council.

James Khoury, who lives on Fawn Circle at the rear of the current Strongsville Golf property, asked if the developers looked at any other properties in the city.

"Where else did they look in Strongsville?" he asked. "If you look at Giant Eagle's track record so far when it comes to the city it doesn't seem like it's that stellar to me. You are going to have more vacancies. This will drive out other businesses... Furthermore look at the traffic pattern. It's really a mess. I think this compounds the problem."

William Vassil lives on Fox Hollow Drive, which also is in the rear of the property. He is in favor of the project.

"We have a small store. Isn't it about time that we get a bigger store where we can have more products?" he asked.

Strongsville Mayor Thomas Perciak believes the Giant Eagle project is the fuse to light additional development in the area and to get the Pearl Road Phase 2 widening project additional funding from the state.

"This will be the biggest shot in the arm that end of Pearl Road has ever experienced," he said. "This will be the inducement for other businesses to locate not only at that end of Pearl Road, but on Pearl Road south in the Petitti area. This will also act as a further incentive for the state to step up and help us reach our goal in providing the necessary dollars we need to get 42 widened to the top of the hill."

Brent Painter, economic development director for the city of Strongsville, believes the Giant Eagle project is a win-win for residents.

"Any time a company is looking at investing millions of dollars in our community and creating 100 jobs on top of the workforce they already have it's a good thing," he said. "There are a lot of communities in this economy that are working for projects like that... This should be the kick start of the successful redevelopment of Pearl Road. This could be the anchor redevelopment that could start future development in a responsible way."

Painter said he has had conversations with potential tenants for the current Giant Eagle site near the mall should the current project come to fruition

"There are not a lot of vacancies around 82 (Royalton Road)," he said. "The vacancies you do see are usually smaller spaces, not like Giant Eagle. We've had preliminary discussions with the group representing Giant Eagle on how we can backfill that space. We have some ideas, but it's really early. Sometimes a vacancy can be an asset for a community because it opens up an opportunity for a company to come in."

Is there concern on Painter's behalf that a new Giant Eagle could hurt surrounding businesses?

He said, "It's hard for us to say someone can or can't come in because it could hurt a competitor. That's not our role. The market will sort that out. Our role is not to regulate."