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Bank Reps Explain Plans Ahead of Zone Change Vote

An updated draft rendering shows the proposed bank that could be built on National Road in Edgwood if Wheeling City Council approves a zone change at its meeting Tuesday.

WHEELING — Bank representatives hoping to build a branch in Edgwood explained their plans and accommodations of residents’ concerns ahead of an upcoming zone change vote this week by Wheeling City Council.

Council is set to hold a long-awaited vote Tuesday on a proposed zoning amendment to change 1154 National Road and 2 Laurel Ave., currently vacant church buildings, from a residential designation to an emergency, medical and office, or EMO, district.

While bank representatives argue that they made sufficient compromises over the past year regarding residents’ concerns, such residents at recent City Council meetings still expressed worries over safety and how a bank would hinder their neighborhood’s character. Council received a petition on Sept. 3 opposing the zone change that gained over 200 signatures from neighbors.

David Croft, the main lawyer representing the unidentified bank, said the institution made a number of concessions based on people’s concerns since he attended a Ward 5 community meeting on the subject in May.

“We’ve tried to meet in the middle between commercial development and communities. We’ve worked very hard at that,” Croft said.

The bank, the name of which lawyers have declined to release, plans to tear down the former church buildings at the site and build a $2 million facility with drive-through service. The two-story building would span 7,000 square feet and include three drive-through lanes with an ATM.

Croft said some of the changes the bank made to appease residents involved altering the layout of the bank site.

The bank reduced the number of planned drive-through lanes from four to three, he said. It also intends to add traffic control devices called “pork chops” to prevent cars from turning right onto Laurel Avenue into the adjacent Lenox neighborhood.

At previous meetings, residents said they feared that building the bank would result in increased traffic onto neighborhood streets, which would present a danger to children running and playing in the area.

The bank commissioned one traffic study in January, on a day that residents noted was a snow day when school wasn’t in session. In response, the bank commissioned a second traffic study on April 29, which concluded the bank “will not have a negative traffic impact on the neighborhood,” Croft said.

The institution also changed the design of the proposed bank in recent months to incorporate parts of the church, such as adding the cornerstone of the church into a decorative fence outside the facility.

Now, Croft said he believes the bank has achieved a fair balance between commercial development and community. The bank would bring 20 new jobs, create construction jobs and serve as a community partner, he said.

Meanwhile, residents have still appeared at City Council meetings in August and September to oppose the bank and related zone change. At the body’s previous meeting, resident Amanda Wakim presented a map indicating that the majority of homeowners around the bank oppose the change.

“Are you listening to us, to the citizens of the Lenox community? Do you see this?” Wakim said to council members at the meeting. “How the people who are paying taxes, how we don’t want this coming into our neighborhood? Please show us that you care and respect our interests and our beautiful neighborhood.”

Croft said that if the zone change is approved and the bank is built, he hopes the bank will eventually earn residents’ trust.

“This organization will earn the community’s trust over time,” Croft said. “I respect the fact that they’re showing up and fighting for what they believe is right, and I believe they have passion. I believe in this case their passion is misguided.”

Croft added that the parking lot at the site has been used for drug activity and that people have broken into the church building in the past. He said the matter for council to consider involves adding a community member or allowing community blight.

“What I want council to consider is what message are they sending to any organization that wants to develop in the city of Wheeling,” Croft said. “We have an organization that looked and relied upon Wheeling’s own comprehensive plan. … What I hope council does is recognize that there is a balance between responsible commercial development and the communities and that this organization has done everything within reason to move from its original position.”

If council approves the zone change, the bank would next have to undergo a site plan review with the Planning Commission, which previously recommended denial of the zone change in March, before the facility could be built.

Council is set to vote on the zoning amendment at its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St.

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