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April 17, 2007

By Ryan Smith The Meadville Tribune Tue Apr 17, 2007, 11:30 PM EDT

04/18/07 — SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — It appears to be one down and one to go for Conneaut Lake Park.

While Crawford County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anthony Vardaro’s ruling on Gregory Sutterlin’s proposed $1.7 million purchase of roughly 3.3 acres of land at the park is reportedly a day or two off, officials in Summit Township have helped the park clear another hurdle in its effort to open for the season.

Summit supervisors gave unanimous approval Tuesday to a zoning change and subdivision request Sutterlin said was crucial to his plan to purchase the park land. The park needs the land sale money in order to prepare to open May 26. Summit’s zoning changes officially go into force Sunday, and the judge’s approval of the land sale is the next significant hurdle the park must clear to open.

Summit’s zoning ordinance change increases the maximum number of condominiums allowed to be built on an acre of land in the township from six to 10.

“It’s been a stressful couple of weeks,” a visibly emotional park general manager George Deshner said following the supervisors’ 3-0 vote. “I’m very pleased to see that the (zoning) ordinance change was granted. This is the start of the breaking of that black cloud” that’s been associated with the park.

Sutterlin reiterated Tuesday his opinion that his proposal meets the land use objectives of the township business district, and matches what a master plan for Conneaut Lake Park calls for, including high-density residential development and lakefront/lakeview development.

“The master plan for the park calls for private investment along with its public interest,” he said following the vote. “I look forward to being one of the first investors to take the park into the next 100 years.”

By voting in favor of the zoning amendment and related land subdivision, Summit officials “acted in the best interest of Summit Township, the community and, of course, the park,” he said.

One township resident, however, once again disagreed with that notion.

Debbie Stewart, who spoke against the then-proposed zoning change at a recent packed-house public meeting, repeated Tuesday that she’s opposed. “I still feel it’s not in the best interest of the township,” she said. “You (supervisors) need to do what’s best for the entire township, not just Conneaut Lake Park.”

She’d said at the recent public hearing that in her opinion, there should be no sale until a qualified board of trustees has been appointed for the park, which is a charitable trust, and plans for long-term development of the park are in place.

“Everything we’re doing at the park right now is looking to the future,” Deshner said. And “given time, things can be turned around and the park can be a very viable economic factor for the entire lake area.”

Ryan Smith can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at rsmith@meadvilletribune.com.

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