In 2021, North Royalton voters approved the adoption of a new Master Land Use Plan and Rezoning Map for the City. Changing the City’s codified ordinances to accommodate those changes have been taking place, and six ordinances were introduced to that end.
Originally, the City contracted a developer for the Town Center District Project. There were problems, however, with the assembly of land necessary to make the project work. In 2008, the recession also played into the demise of the project. Since then, the changes in the manner in which people shop and work have played into the scenario, thereby making changes in concept necessary to keep up with current societal trends. “Shifting trends in retail, and the failings of other large retail developments, have made the original intent of the TCD unfeasible,” according to Tom Jordan, Community Development Director. To that end, “the revision of the Town Center District was one of the primary focus points of the 2021 North Royalton Master Plan Update,” said Jordan
Part of the Master Land Use Plan and Zoning Map included the mixed-use Town Center District (TCD) zoning, which was originally implemented in 2004, based on the Master Plan at that time. Currently, there are five sub-districts within the TCD zoning, noted by TCD1, TCD2, TCD3, TCD4 and TCD5, all signifying certain areas where the TCD zoning is located.
Jordan said that a “large number of parcels off of State, Royalton, Bennett, Ridge, and Royalwood were rezoned into the TCD, consisting of five subdistricts. TCD-1, TCD-2, and TCD-3 subdistricts consisted of mostly developed, small-scale retail uses. TCD-4 and TCD-5 consisted of a large area of undeveloped and single-family uses and was intended to be redeveloped into a large mixed-use retail center.”
Some of the proposed changes include the change of the TCD code overall, from a dedicated, large single mixed-use development and the consolidation of the five TCD subdistricts into two, thereby reducing the overall size of the Town Center District. “The sheer size and number of subdistricts results in excess requirements and an overly complicated zoning process,” according to Jordan. TCD-4 and TCD-5 subdistricts, at present, require large setbacks from the abutting residential property and require large minimum acreage to develop. The reduction would remove the outlying parcels from the district.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer