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10/21/09 02:38 pm - Bernander Games Zoning Meeting
This is my recap from the trustees meeting last night. Since I didn't have a recording device, I will put this in words to the best of my abilities. Some of the quotes may be slightly off, but I'll keep it as accurate as I can.
Vince Bernander is a gaming CEO who has his sights on a 64-acre property near the corner Mulberry and County Line Road. On his website he advertises himself as a sports-complex builder with 15 locations, but at the trustees meeting he continued to portray himself as a "Poor, retired schoolteacher with a dream."
Right off the bat, Bernander showed himself to be unprofessional and unprepared in front of a crowd that had certainly done its homework. So many angry Chesterlanders, Gates Mills residents, and Willhouby Hills residents arrived to the meeting that the venue had to be moved to the cafeteria, and the trustees had to continue reminding the crowd to be quiet and courteous.
What Bernander is applying for is a Use Variance for the property. Since the 64 acres is in the middle of a residential area, and is zoned R5, there are very strict restrictions on what can be built there. Namely, houses. Just houses. Nothing but houses.
Bernander is not the current owner of the property. He seeks to buy the property only if this use variance goes through.
I speculate that its current owner is having trouble selling it as one lot of 64 acres due to this very specific zoning.
In the first section of the meeting, Bernander gave a powerpoint presentation, ripe with cheesy clip art. In this powerpoint, Bernander explained that his complex would begin with only six baseball fields. Harmless, right? No gambling, no alcohol, just baseball; and he brought in some special lights he plans on putting in that have "reduced light spillage".
However, in his final plan for the complex, he showed plans for a snowmobile track, basketball courts right up against the property line, public bathrooms, other sports facilities, and a sprawling parking lot containing 500+ parking spaces. Also, the huge field lights he brought in actually have 30 percent light spillage, and he didn't account for other lights that will be installed in the property (parking lot lights, signage, stand lighting, etc.)
During the powerpoint, he also claimed a "Traffic Study" (we later learned that Bernander did this "Traffic Study" himself and wasn't certified by anybody) to show that traffic on Mulberry would increase from 2.5 cars per minute to 4.5 cars per minute.
He also claimed that he would "not use Chester Township resources" such as Fire Department, Police, and Health Services, which made absolutely no sense. If someone got into an accident leaving his complex (Chesterland has no streetlights, and the nearest intersections only have stop signs), would he have his own police department deal with the accident?
Bernander has done no studies about water runoff, or meeting EPA guidelines. He claimed that he would try to be "Green" about powering his facility, but wind turbines do not meet "recreational" zoning guidelines because they are too tall. Currently in Chesterland, there is a law about how high you can build a structure, to keep the natural skyline intact.
He also claimed that his facility would not require a city water and sewer system to be installed in that part of Chesterland, but a facility expecting to fill 525 parking spaces would need a very fancy septic system in order to stay sanitary!! Chances are, this is a sneaky way to introduce city water to residential Chesterland.
During the powerpoint, Bernander claimed he would give Chester Township a cut of his parking profits (He plans to charge for parking? At a baseball field in Chesterland?), as well as give a discount to Chester residents. However, after the powerpoint he upped his offer to "Free use to Chester residents." Does Bernader plan to make a profit solely on out-of-towners who wish to pay to park, and pay again to play baseball and race snowmobiles?
After his powerpoint, one of his associates got on the microphone to take an engineering-based question from a trustee. The associate dodged the question and instead spoke to the grumpy audience about how they must hate playing with their kids because they're against sports. The audience was a-twitter (but not twittering because they were mostly senior citizens and middle-aged people), and clearly offended by these comments.
All in all, there was an awful lot of question-dodging.
In order to get a variance, the person seeking the variance has to first prove that the land cannot be used in its original zoning. Bernander dodged this question outright when asked by the trustees.
Bernander had to prove hardship, and that the hardship wasn't created by his own doing. The legal definition of hardship is:
"In zoning law, a permissible ground for a variance. Unnecessary hardship exists when the physical characteristics of the real estate are such that it cannot be used for a permitted purpose, or that it can only be used for a permitted purpose at a prohibitive expense, 401 A. 2d 1240, 1242."
When asked about this, Bernander's reply was that he should have brought his legal guy. Later in the meeting, Bernander claimed, "Well, I thought this meeting was going to be a waste of time!"
At some point, Bernander even mentioned the possibility of becoming a non-profit. Between the cost of the land, the cost of construction, his fancy lighting system, and all the legal trouble he is bound to run into, how could he ever make his investment back? When asked if he had filled out a 501(c), Bernander appeared to not really know what that meant, and answered, "No."
The issue came up that Mulberry road is only two lanes, and can't handle the traffic coming from a large sports complex. Also, there is an intersection nearby on top of a steep hill (Mulberry and Ferry roads) that is dangerous by current county standards. Bernander's reply: "Well, the county'll just have to take care of that!!"
That reply elicited more offended mumbles from the audience.
When a citizen asked Bernander what would happen to all the wildlife on the property, Bernander mentioned that he would keep plenty of trees. The citizen replied that trees were good, but that didn't really answer the question. Bernander replied, "Well, wildlife lives in trees, you know."
There were many other moments where it became evident that Mr. Bernander didn't know what he was talking about. His architectural plan became a "rough sketch" after complaints about structures being too close to the property line, and discrepancies in his proposed hours of operation became visible.
Mr. Bernander also claimed that he wanted to be a good neighbor in his community, and that he wouldn't want to be somewhere he wasn't welcome. He must have a pretty thick skull, because nearly 200 of his neighbors, some of them elderly, came out to protest his plan.
One man cited this promise and asked him up front: "Do you consider withdrawing your proposal?"
Bernander: "Well, this piece of land is really perfect for what I want to do. I'll think about withdrawing if there's another piece of land that suits my needs..."
The man, an older gentleman in a ballcap with a tough demeanor, took back the microphone and asked very sternly, "Mr. Bernander, will you withdraw your proposal TONIGHT?"
There was clapping and even some cheering from the audience, but Mr. Bernander once again dodged the question.
One man, a banker-type from Gates Mills, asked Mr. Bernander where he planned to get his funding from. "If I were your bank," he said, "I wouldn't see an organized and profitable enough plan for me to want to give you a loan."
"We have several people interested in this project," replied Mr. Bernander. "After that, I'll have to go to a bank."
Here is the problem. A variance, if granted, applies to the land, not the person seeking the variance. If that piece of land is changed from Residential to Commercial, and Bernander's plan falls through, the land will remain commercial. Bernander does not currently own the land; someone else does.
Chances are, the land will bring a higher profit if sold as commercial rather than residential. The landowner would probably love to see it rezoned (thanks to Bernander's requests), then when Bernander's business fails and the lease cannot be paid, the land will be sold to a commercial business. They could put a K-Mart there, or a(nother) strip mall, or anything. We would have no control.
Many Chesterland residents are aware of this and will do anything in their power to stop it.
Last night's meeting ran overtime, and the Janitor had to close the school. The second part of the meeting, including public commentary, is scheduled for November 17.
Vince Bernander is a gaming CEO who has his sights on a 64-acre property near the corner Mulberry and County Line Road. On his website he advertises himself as a sports-complex builder with 15 locations, but at the trustees meeting he continued to portray himself as a "Poor, retired schoolteacher with a dream."
Right off the bat, Bernander showed himself to be unprofessional and unprepared in front of a crowd that had certainly done its homework. So many angry Chesterlanders, Gates Mills residents, and Willhouby Hills residents arrived to the meeting that the venue had to be moved to the cafeteria, and the trustees had to continue reminding the crowd to be quiet and courteous.
What Bernander is applying for is a Use Variance for the property. Since the 64 acres is in the middle of a residential area, and is zoned R5, there are very strict restrictions on what can be built there. Namely, houses. Just houses. Nothing but houses.
Bernander is not the current owner of the property. He seeks to buy the property only if this use variance goes through.
I speculate that its current owner is having trouble selling it as one lot of 64 acres due to this very specific zoning.
In the first section of the meeting, Bernander gave a powerpoint presentation, ripe with cheesy clip art. In this powerpoint, Bernander explained that his complex would begin with only six baseball fields. Harmless, right? No gambling, no alcohol, just baseball; and he brought in some special lights he plans on putting in that have "reduced light spillage".
However, in his final plan for the complex, he showed plans for a snowmobile track, basketball courts right up against the property line, public bathrooms, other sports facilities, and a sprawling parking lot containing 500+ parking spaces. Also, the huge field lights he brought in actually have 30 percent light spillage, and he didn't account for other lights that will be installed in the property (parking lot lights, signage, stand lighting, etc.)
During the powerpoint, he also claimed a "Traffic Study" (we later learned that Bernander did this "Traffic Study" himself and wasn't certified by anybody) to show that traffic on Mulberry would increase from 2.5 cars per minute to 4.5 cars per minute.
He also claimed that he would "not use Chester Township resources" such as Fire Department, Police, and Health Services, which made absolutely no sense. If someone got into an accident leaving his complex (Chesterland has no streetlights, and the nearest intersections only have stop signs), would he have his own police department deal with the accident?
Bernander has done no studies about water runoff, or meeting EPA guidelines. He claimed that he would try to be "Green" about powering his facility, but wind turbines do not meet "recreational" zoning guidelines because they are too tall. Currently in Chesterland, there is a law about how high you can build a structure, to keep the natural skyline intact.
He also claimed that his facility would not require a city water and sewer system to be installed in that part of Chesterland, but a facility expecting to fill 525 parking spaces would need a very fancy septic system in order to stay sanitary!! Chances are, this is a sneaky way to introduce city water to residential Chesterland.
During the powerpoint, Bernander claimed he would give Chester Township a cut of his parking profits (He plans to charge for parking? At a baseball field in Chesterland?), as well as give a discount to Chester residents. However, after the powerpoint he upped his offer to "Free use to Chester residents." Does Bernader plan to make a profit solely on out-of-towners who wish to pay to park, and pay again to play baseball and race snowmobiles?
After his powerpoint, one of his associates got on the microphone to take an engineering-based question from a trustee. The associate dodged the question and instead spoke to the grumpy audience about how they must hate playing with their kids because they're against sports. The audience was a-twitter (but not twittering because they were mostly senior citizens and middle-aged people), and clearly offended by these comments.
All in all, there was an awful lot of question-dodging.
In order to get a variance, the person seeking the variance has to first prove that the land cannot be used in its original zoning. Bernander dodged this question outright when asked by the trustees.
Bernander had to prove hardship, and that the hardship wasn't created by his own doing. The legal definition of hardship is:
"In zoning law, a permissible ground for a variance. Unnecessary hardship exists when the physical characteristics of the real estate are such that it cannot be used for a permitted purpose, or that it can only be used for a permitted purpose at a prohibitive expense, 401 A. 2d 1240, 1242."
When asked about this, Bernander's reply was that he should have brought his legal guy. Later in the meeting, Bernander claimed, "Well, I thought this meeting was going to be a waste of time!"
At some point, Bernander even mentioned the possibility of becoming a non-profit. Between the cost of the land, the cost of construction, his fancy lighting system, and all the legal trouble he is bound to run into, how could he ever make his investment back? When asked if he had filled out a 501(c), Bernander appeared to not really know what that meant, and answered, "No."
The issue came up that Mulberry road is only two lanes, and can't handle the traffic coming from a large sports complex. Also, there is an intersection nearby on top of a steep hill (Mulberry and Ferry roads) that is dangerous by current county standards. Bernander's reply: "Well, the county'll just have to take care of that!!"
That reply elicited more offended mumbles from the audience.
When a citizen asked Bernander what would happen to all the wildlife on the property, Bernander mentioned that he would keep plenty of trees. The citizen replied that trees were good, but that didn't really answer the question. Bernander replied, "Well, wildlife lives in trees, you know."
There were many other moments where it became evident that Mr. Bernander didn't know what he was talking about. His architectural plan became a "rough sketch" after complaints about structures being too close to the property line, and discrepancies in his proposed hours of operation became visible.
Mr. Bernander also claimed that he wanted to be a good neighbor in his community, and that he wouldn't want to be somewhere he wasn't welcome. He must have a pretty thick skull, because nearly 200 of his neighbors, some of them elderly, came out to protest his plan.
One man cited this promise and asked him up front: "Do you consider withdrawing your proposal?"
Bernander: "Well, this piece of land is really perfect for what I want to do. I'll think about withdrawing if there's another piece of land that suits my needs..."
The man, an older gentleman in a ballcap with a tough demeanor, took back the microphone and asked very sternly, "Mr. Bernander, will you withdraw your proposal TONIGHT?"
There was clapping and even some cheering from the audience, but Mr. Bernander once again dodged the question.
One man, a banker-type from Gates Mills, asked Mr. Bernander where he planned to get his funding from. "If I were your bank," he said, "I wouldn't see an organized and profitable enough plan for me to want to give you a loan."
"We have several people interested in this project," replied Mr. Bernander. "After that, I'll have to go to a bank."
Here is the problem. A variance, if granted, applies to the land, not the person seeking the variance. If that piece of land is changed from Residential to Commercial, and Bernander's plan falls through, the land will remain commercial. Bernander does not currently own the land; someone else does.
Chances are, the land will bring a higher profit if sold as commercial rather than residential. The landowner would probably love to see it rezoned (thanks to Bernander's requests), then when Bernander's business fails and the lease cannot be paid, the land will be sold to a commercial business. They could put a K-Mart there, or a(nother) strip mall, or anything. We would have no control.
Many Chesterland residents are aware of this and will do anything in their power to stop it.
Last night's meeting ran overtime, and the Janitor had to close the school. The second part of the meeting, including public commentary, is scheduled for November 17.
