Plans are in the works to repurpose the former Stow-Glen Retirement Village, which abruptly closed in 2021, leaving dozens of residents and their families with just days to find new facilities.
The tentative proposal would turn the front tract of the three-parcel property into a commercial operation, with a roughly 90-bed nursing home on one rear parcel and redeveloped apartments on the other.
After Stow-Glen closed, citing financial strain amid the COVID pandemic, the property at 4285 Kent Road was placed by court order into the care of a receiver, Diversified Health Partners, which has been working to get the site market-ready.
Adding the commercial operation would be dependent on City Council’s approval of a rezoning request.
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Nathan Leppo, Stow’s director of planning and development, updated council on the process at its Jan. 12 meeting.
Step one was re-platting the land, which involved shifting the property’s boundaries.
Most recently, council received a recommendation from the planning commission — an independent body that reviews planning submissions and makes suggestions to council — to rezone the property, part two in the three-step process, Leppo said.
Next, the matter of rezoning will come before council and the planning committee for a first reading at their Feb. 9 meeting. The committee is a separate entity from the planning commission that reviews plans and legislation before amending and/or recommending the items to council.
The issue will require three readings culminating in a vote on March 13 to determine whether or not to rezone the property.
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Stow-Glen consists of three parcels of land, two in the back and one in the front facing Kent Road.
Site plan proposals can only be submitted if the property is successfully rezoned, Leppo said, and are also subject to the approval of council.
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Stow City Council to consider rezoning closed retirement village