Longano residents voice concerns about Cornerstone access

by Laura Bednar

June 4 planning commission meeting

The Cornerstone of Hope grief counseling center on Brecksville Road is proposing a parking lot expansion, which would include an entrance and exit drive to the facility on Longano Drive.

Several Longano residents stated their concerns about traffic being diverted to their street.

The parking lot expansion would bring the total number of spaces to 93. Longano Drive is currently undergoing road improvements, and city Engineer Don Ramm said there would be a 13-foot buffer of land between the proposed parking lot and where a new sidewalk will be added.

Planning Commission Chairman Bill Gutermuth said in the past, there had been complaints about overflow parking in the area during large-scale events. The parking expansion could rectify that issue, he said.

Jeff Foster, architect for the project, said the lighting in the parking lot would largely remain the same, aside from relocating a few pole lights. He also noted a second entrance/exit would relieve the bottleneck that occurs with the singular ingress and egress the facility has now.

Mayor Greg Kurtz suggested decorative gating for the egress point on Longano with pillars to “match the character of the area,” noting the road improvements in progress on Brecksville Road. He also said it could limit access to only egress.

“Round-the-clock ingress and egress onto Longano doesn’t feel right,” said commission member Cheryl Chase.

Commission member Joseph Moeller supported an egress only. He said it would make left turns safer onto Brecksville Road because there is a traffic light at Longano.

Resident Wayne Benos suggested cars exiting Cornerstone use the existing drive, but turn right onto Brecksville, turn left onto Rockside Woods Boulevard and take that to Rockside Road. This, he said, would make for easy access to I-77.

Resident Dragan Radujkovic said cars would constantly be in and out if there were a drive onto Longano. He said it would be one thing if the drive was only used two or three times a year during Cornerstone’s special events.

Linda Sobieraj, Longano resident, asked why there couldn’t be another traffic light at the existing entrance onto Brecksville Road. Kurtz said the city wouldn’t put a traffic light that close.

Resident Andrew Champa asked why cars from a business would drive through a residential street in the first place. Kurtz said for safety reasons.

Foster said the goal is to gain approval as soon as possible as he wanted the construction to coincide with the current Longano Drive improvements project. The project was tabled until the July planning commission meeting. ∞