Logan Township supervisors reject request to close off road

Neighbors opposed developer’s plan to close off Sunset Drive near Goods Lane

The Logan Township supervisors recently voted to accept the recommendation of its Planning Commission to deny a request by Ozzven LLC to close Sunset Drive off Goods Lane as part of a proposal to reconfigure the entrance to the commercial complex comprising the Hampton Inn, Cracker Barrel and Champs -- and the entrance to the neighborhood next to it.

The Planning Commission had recommended denial after hearing from several neighborhood residents who were all opposed to reconfiguration for fear it would increase traffic and decrease safety on their quiet streets.

Ozzven wanted to swap a portion of Charlotte Drive, the company's private entrance to the complex, for a portion of nearby and parallel Sunset Drive, the public entrance to the neighborhood, so Ozzven could incorporate Sunset into an adjacent piece of orphan property it owns, rendering that ground developable.

Charlotte Drive would have become a public street and would have continued to carry traffic in and out of the complex, but at its top, a new access would have been opened into the neighborhood -- providing a straight-shot onto its residential streets for vehicles coming from the complex.

That would allow inebriated drivers from the bar in the complex to come through the neighborhood, said resident Aaron Waddell, who has young children.

"You open that up, who knows?" Waddell said.

The change could have benefited the neighborhood by allowing residents to enter and leave at the traffic light that controls the intersection of Charlotte Drive with Goods Lane -- so they could come and go from any direction, in contrast to the right turn only in and out at Sunset Drive, according to Ozzven.

But that additional convenience seemed to hold little weight for the neighbors.

The neighbors fought the initial establishment of the commercial complex decades ago, but the lack of an entrance at the top of Charlotte to the residential streets has helped the neighborhood retain its integrity, according to Randy Waddell, Aaron's father.

Eliminating that barrier now would "be nothing but trouble," Randy said.

There would be tractor-trailers going through neighborhood streets, a loss of privacy and extra noise, neighbors said.

"There are plenty of other places for development," Randy said.

"Growth should not come at the expense of an established neighborhood," said neighbor Ellen Hargreaves.

"It's important that everyone hears your voice," Ozzven representative Andrea Cohen told the neighbors.

Ozzven had been exploring possibilities for development of the orphan property if it could have been enhanced, but didn't have definitive plans, Cohen said.

It's currently difficult to do anything with the small lot on the far side of Sunrise that Ozzven was looking to supplement, said company representative Mary Smith of Blair Companies Real Estate.

But there is a duty to explore options to make use of the ground, Smith said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.