Fairlawn Wins Right to Close Rothrock Road

Fairlawn can legally block Rothrock Road to through traffic, a Summit County Common Pleas judge has ruled.

Judge Alison McCarty, in a decision handed down a year after the case was filed, said Copley failed to prove it was unreasonable for Fairlawn to close part of Rothrock.

"Fairlawn has demonstrated that it has many legitimate concerns about the effect of a tremendous increase of traffic in the Rothrock/Montrose area," McCarty wrote in her ruling. 

Copley Township filed the lawsuit against Fairlawn on July 25, 2011 after Fairlawn announced it would close a portion of Rothrock Road against traffic from a proposed Walmart Superstore and Sam's Club in Copley Township.

The township contended it was unreasonable to close the road and that Fairlawn did not have jurisdiction to do so. 

Fairlawn put up a temporary concrete barrier west of Sawgrass Road on Rothrock two years ago. That barrier was supposed to be replaced by a permanent barrier on April 10, 2012, but Copley filed an injunction against it. 

Fairlawn officials decided to wait to put up the barrier until a court determined its legality.

The city has argued that it needs to protect the integrity of the neighborhood from the retail sprawl.

The proposed site in Copley is on 40 acres of undeveloped land in the northern portion of Rothrock, next to residential areas of Fairlawn.

McCarty's ruling gives Fairlawn permission to erect a more permanent gate at Rosemont Boulevard and other barriers, movable in an emergency, just west of Sawgrass.

Copley Fire Chief Michael Benson testified at a hearing that closing Rothrock "places hundreds of our senior residents' lives in danger" by giving paramedics a longer route to Copley Place, a senior facility.

But McCarty said that "Copley residents need not worry about the service offered to them; they are in good hands with police and fire departments that will provide sufficient coverage."

She also wrote: “Fairlawn has legitimate concerns for those residents and their existing property, as well as safety concerns based on the traffic problems that are likely to occur if the Walmart and Sam’s Club stores move forward without significant additional traffic improvements."

She said Fairlawn has home-rule authority to protect its neighborhood from the effects of the retail development.