The City of North Royalton recently received word that their bid to purchase property owned by Cuyahoga County was accepted. The York Road property belongs to the Cuyahoga County Engineer’s Office. The property is zoned (PF) Public Facility.
The road and bridge maintenance facility property, located at 4875 York Road, is one of four properties, including two garages in Cleveland and an engineering building in Valley View, that the county is selling. They will consolidate its maintenance in one building in another location. The county had requested that those interested in purchasing the property submit a Request for Proposal by March. Mayor Bob Stefanik announced on May 24 that the County had accepted the city’s bid of $250,000 for the property.
The property totals 10.14 acres, which includes an approximate 12,500 square foot building. The City of North Royalton currently leases a five-acre portion of that property, which abuts York Road recreational complex of baseball fields and currently houses the city’s Recreation Department. In September of 2008, the city entered into an agreement with Cuyahoga County for a 25-year lease with a 25-year option for property adjacent to the York Road complex. At that time, one new baseball field was added with added parking, and another baseball field was added the following year.
“The city has a variety of needs for storage of equipment and emergency equipment, and the Rec Department has some specific needs,” said Community Development Director Tom Jordan. “The Rec Department has a building at York Road, with storage at the cemetery, Heasley Fields and Memorial Park. This might centralize some of that.” He also noted that the city is under mandate from Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to store equipment indoors. Anything with hydraulic fluid needs to be stored inside.
Stefanik said that the city had recently sold its compost facility to the North Royalton School District to be used as the district’s new bus garage. He said that the city was storing equipment there, so they will move some of the equipment there. Also, the city’s Recreation Department doesn’t really have office and restroom facilities, so they will probably be moving the Recreation Department there, where they will have more space for the machines, a cafeteria area and office space. “We’re not gaining a building, we’re breaking even,” said Stefanik.
“We should take possession before the end of the year,” said Stefanik. “We’ll get into some long-range plans next year. There still is some undeveloped land.” It is not known if the city will install new sports fields on the undeveloped land. “Numbers are kinda flat right now in baseball and soccer,” said Stefanik. “We’ll see where the numbers go,” He mentioned a possible joint venture with a private company or non-profit to utilize the space. “There are a lot of possibilities, so we’ll be discussing it, in depth,” he said.
By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer