Akron Planning Commission, East Akron, West Akron, Northwest Akron
The Akron City Planning Commission approved a petition to build a parking lot and access road at 1483 Triplett Blvd. in East Akron. The petition will go back to the city planning department before going to City Council for final approval. (Google Maps)

Covered by Documenter:

Meagan Rodgers (notes)

Planning commission OKs project, which would remove blighted buildings, protect Haley’s Run trail 

Residents near an East Akron auto salvage business spoke out against the company’s plans to install a parking lot during a public hearing at the Akron Planning Commission meeting Friday, Feb. 16. Documenter Meagan Rodgers attended the meeting. 

Auto salvage and recycling business LKQ Corp. petitioned the city to add a 50- to 75-vehicle parking lot at 1483 Triplett Blvd. just north of Akron Fulton International Airport. In addition, LKQ plans to build an access road to the parking lot from East Archwood Avenue. 

LKQ’s Akron location currently has 210 employees with more than $11 million in annual payroll, according to city planning staff documents. 

An Akron Department of Planning and Urban Development map shows where LKQ Corp. plans to expand its auto salvage business to allow for an access road and an employee parking lot.
An Akron Department of Planning and Urban Development map shows where LKQ Corp. plans to expand its auto salvage business to allow for an access road and an employee parking lot. (Map courtesy of the city of Akron).

As part of this project, the company plans to remove several blighted buildings. Additionally, LKQ is close to an agreement with the Western Reserve Land Coalition to donate land and money to protect Haley’s Run, a nearby trail. 

Residents concerned about noise and expansion plans

Two residents who live nearby on Salem Avenue raised concerns about noise, hours of operation and expansion plans. They said that the ground shakes when vehicles are dropped and that the company violates noise ordinances. 

Commission members said that noise concerns should be brought to the residents’ council member, who is Ward 10 Council Member Sharon Connor. She was at the meeting and spoke in support of LKQ’s petition, saying she was satisfied with protections for the nearby trail. After the meeting, Connor spoke with the residents who raised concerns. 

A memo from the city planning staff to the commission stated that “the removal of the blighted structures will improve the aesthetics of the property, along with providing needed parking spaces and improving internal traffic flow.”

The commission voted unanimously to support LKQ’s petition, which next goes to Akron City Council for final approval. 

Commission approves two more petitions up for public hearing

In addition to the LKQ approval, the commission voted in favor of two small-business petitions:

  • The Bath Manor Special Care Center at 2330 Smith Rd. in Northwest Akron was granted approval to install two hard-surface parking lots to replace existing gravel lots. 
  • Summit Toyota applied to replace its existing sign at 1570 Frederick Blvd. in West Akron with a larger and lower, sign. The new sign, visible from I-77,  is comparable in size to a recently approved sign at the nearby VanDevere car dealership. City Zoning Manager Mike Antenucci noted that there are no plans to approve signage any larger in the future.

To see the commission’s agenda and more information about the three petitions, go here.

Read Documenter Meagan Rodgers’ notes here:

Akron-City-Planning-Commission-Akron-City-Planning-Commission-02_16_2024Download

Community Journalism Director (he/him)
Kevin leads the Akron Documenters program at Signal Akron, connects with the community and supports the journalists in the newsroom. With a servant leader mindset, he brings more than 30 years of experience in local journalism, media consulting, and education to Akron. Editor & Publisher selected Kevin as top media leader in their “25 over 50” class in 2022. Members of the group were selected for their “strong work ethic, transformational mindsets, commitment to journalistic and publishing excellence, and their ability to lead during challenging times.” Kevin is committed to serving the residents of Akron with an optimistic, inclusive, and innovative mindset to help elevate civic engagement and local journalism.

Akron Documenters trains and pays residents to document local government meetings with notes and live-tweet threads. We then make those meeting summaries available as a new public record.