Wednesday night, several hundred Lorain County residents crowded into the New Russia Township Lodge to hear from the developer who is seeking to rezone 622 acres of farmland for an industrial development known as a mega site. Township Trustees Cynthia Breda and Michelle Tyner questioned Dru Siley, vice president of development at Liberty Development Company, on his plans for the site and on its environmental, economic, and infrastructural impact on the Township. At the end of the meeting, Breda and Tyner adjourned without making a decision and scheduled a vote for 6:30 p.m. March 17. Tyner, who declined to fully comment until after voting, said that the vote had been delayed so that all three trustees can be present. Trustee Scott Justin was not in attendance at Wednesday’s meeting.
The mega site project is spearheaded by Lorain County and economic development nonprofit TeamNEO, with a $67.4 million grant from the All Ohio Future Fund. Liberty later joined the project to develop the land, which is located 10 minutes outside Oberlin near the Lorain County Airport, into infrastructure that will be ready for the arrival of “advanced manufacturing.”
Since the plan became public last fall, it has incited pushback from residents of New Russia Township and throughout Lorain County over concerns of the impact on the rural community and lack of transparency on the part of the County government. A petition against the proposed development has received over 5,200 signatures, and yard signs have popped up across the area. At a Feb. 10 Zoning Commission meeting, hundreds of residents came out in opposition to rezoning for the project and the Zoning Commission voted not to recommend the proposal.
This week, residents returned to the Lodge to continue voicing their concerns. For over an hour, speaker after speaker went up to the podium to give their opinion on the rezoning. Almost all expressed opposition or skepticism toward the megasite development. Many neighbors of the proposed development gave emotional testimonies about their connection to the land and fears about the impact to their quality of life.
During the public hearing, Siley said the goal was to create a place for “advanced manufacturing,” not for a data center like many residents have feared. He said the project would bring 6,000–8,000 permanent jobs to the area. According to him the developers would like to develop the workforce “as locally as possible” and expressed interest in involving the Lorain County Junior Vocational School, located in Oberlin. He said he would not know what “end users” would occupy the facility until after the zoning has been approved but noted that all industry on the site would have to fit specific conditions, and all plans for site development would have to be approved by the Township.
Tyner brought up concerns about the rise in utility rates for Township residents. Siley said these concerns were warranted and that they were looking at options that could privately fund electrical generation. He said Liberty was looking at options for the City of Elyria to provide water and sewage connection because the City has adjacent wastewater treatment facilities. He repeatedly reiterated that discussions about electrical, water, and sewage infrastructure were ongoing.
Addressing concerns about the loss of farmland, Siley said that the mega site project could work in coordination with the Trustees to create a fund that would legally preserve farmland or support farmers through organizations like 4-H.
Preserving farmland and the rural nature of the community was a big theme throughout the public comment section.
“My observation is the east side of Lorain County and the west side are very different,” Karen Johnson, who came to the meeting from neighboring Carlisle Township, said. “On the east side, there’s a lot of development housing. On the west side, there [are] more traditional, rooted farmers — generational farmers that have held on to [the land], and it’s sad to disrupt that, and that’s what this would be.”
Not all attendees at the meeting were in opposition to the mega site. In the back of the room, over a dozen members of the Laborers’ International United Union of North America Local 758 stood supporting the development. Local 758 Business Manager and New Russia Township resident Chuck Broody said he hoped the development would bring good paying jobs to the region and a reliable source of future tax revenue for the Township. He said this would be especially important after the Republic Services Landfill, which currently provides the Township with about 50 percent of its tax revenue, has used up all its space.
“I’d like to know what the Township will do for revenue once the landfill is done in 10–12 years,” Broody said. “I can’t afford my property taxes to go up any higher. We need some sort of revenue to come in [and] take the burden off of residents.”
Overall, attendees expressed trust in how the Township Trustees were handling the situation. Speakers said they were glad that they were given a chance for public input and dialogue.
“We’re finally having a conversation, and this is what we should have been doing four years ago instead of having closed-door meetings and having all this secret conversation,” attendee Jim Cahlick said. “Maybe we could build something here that everybody could agree on that could be great for the Township, but right now they’re coming in, everything’s secret, there’s no information, [and] they’re asking for a blank check. Some people call it the trust me bro project like, ‘Just trust me, bro.’”
