Brew Pubs, Fast Casual Could Be Added to Van Aken and Shaker Towne Center

Shaker Heights hopes to encourage walkable, mixed use residential and commercial development with amendments to its zoning code in two of its business districts.

The idea, said Director of Planning Joyce Braverman, is to steer the districts away from plazas and parking lots to something more like the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colo.

No one spoke during Shaker Heights City Council's public hearing of the zoning amendments April 22. The ordinance will be read for a final vote during the May council meeting.

The initial proposal also included the creation of a new commercial district in a peice of Chagrin that is now residential, but that idea was scrapped after residents expressed concern at the March Planning Commission meeting. 

The Van Aken and Warrensville Center Road intersection and the Shaker Towne Center are zoned Commercial Mixed Use, which allows for a variety of businesses, schools and some residential developments.

The amendments would allow residences, offices and medical clinics on the first floor of buildings, where now they are only allowed in the upper floors.

"Fast casual" restaurants (like Panera, Chipotle and Five Guys) will also be allowed, as well as government offices, museums and libraries.

On a conditional basis, the zoning would permit brew pubs and wine bars, but require in the code's definitions that these establishments' principal business is in serving beer and wine, respectively.

It would also allow, on a conditional basis, the following:

• home-based businesses 
• labs and research facilities 
• limited production and processing
• packaging/assembly of finished goods
• planned unit developments, such as the Sussex Courts
• schools
• work/live units

Construction and design requirements would change, too: less parking is required — to recognize public transit use; the minimum property lot area would change from three acres to one; and 50 percent of frontal space in large developments must be retail, service or restaurants.

Do you think the zoning amendments will benefit the business districts? Tell us in the comments!