Officials preview Battery Park PUD timeline; residents raise landing access, culvert and parking safety concerns

City staff told an advisory board that the final Planned Unit Development (PUD) documents for the Battery Park project will be presented to the planning commission in October and that the city commission has already approved the zoning change subject to completion of the final documents. The staff update said the site plan and overall concept have not changed from prior approvals and that the October submission will provide more detail on unit mix, building facades, streetscapes and public-boardwalk access along the water.

Board members then moved to other waterfront items: a recently held groundbreaking and dedication for a landing that some members said they learned about only after the fact; the presence of a new gravel path north of Cleveland Road; and a culvert that several members said looks too small to convey flood flows from a local stream. "The final PUD documentation is gonna be in front of planning commission at their meeting coming up here in October," staff told the board. Board members requested a fuller briefing and copies of the October planning packet when available.

Residents and board members raised maintenance and public-safety concerns about the landing and adjacent Sports Force events, where on-street parking has overflowed to both sides of Cleveland Road during weekends. A board member said cars and pedestrians have mixed in ways that pose a hazard. Staff confirmed there are public parking spaces at the park but said Sports Force, Cedar Point and the police department are discussing better signage and possible use of an adjacent gravel lot as overflow parking. Staff said Ohio Department of Transportation restrictions limit some driveway access options.

Board members also asked about dredge-material disposal and whether coarse dredge sand could be repurposed for beach nourishment at Lions Park. Staff said the scale of dredging that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other Lake Erie projects are pursuing often dwarfs the amount available from local operations, but that material-sourcing would be studied further during design. Members asked staff to follow up with county floodplain managers to assess whether a small culvert is a potential choke point for flood waters that travel north toward the lake.

Requests for follow-up: board members asked staff to provide more detail by email about culvert capacity, dredge-material options, parking management plans for Sports Force events, and the schedule and materials to be presented at the planning commission. One board member urged staff to notify the advisory committee in advance of future public ceremonies and groundbreaking events along the waterfront.

No formal board action was taken on these items during the meeting; members asked for additional information and follow-up from city staff.