Beachwood Council Pushes Back Cranberry Court Decision

Those looking for a final decision on the issue of townhouses being built at Cranberry Court will have to wait a bit longer.

City Council again pushed back their decision on Monday in favor of a third reading of the ordinance at its April 18 meeting. The ordinance would allow Mayor Merle Gorden to agree on development with Brickman’s Brickhaus Beachwood, Inc.

The proposal is to build 13 townhouse units, completing the original intention of the site to build 12 units before the housing market crash almost a decade ago interfered. Only six attached townhouses were built. Brickman’s has whittled the number of houses in their plan down from an original intention of more than 30 to the current 13 after dissent from residents and Council.

Both members of the Council and Beachwood residents have expressed displeasure with the concept, forcing the company to revise its plans a number of times since initially proposing them approximately two years ago. Residents voiced their opposition to council during the citizens’ remarks portion of the meeting.

“I don’t mean to be inappropriate, but I find it interesting the process whereby someone like Brickman can come in to council and use your time and all the resources of the city over and over with a slightly massaged, lightly touched version of his development,” said Gary Marino, whose mother lives at Cranberry Court. “This is not a big project...it is puzzling that you don’t have a mechanism legislated somehow to limit how many times someone can come in with the same project.”

Numerous residents complained that the expansion would affect parking and otherwise inconvenience residents. How long the Council should continue to discuss one issue was also brought into question.

The issue will once again be discussed and developed at the April 18 meeting.