Tuesday, January 15, 2013
If the judge decides in Fairlawn's favor, police will fine drivers who go around Rothrock Road barriers as well.
Fairlawn City Council is looking to approve legislation that will allow police officers to fine drivers who go around or through the gates at Rosemont Boulevard. City Law Director Ed Riegler said police Chief Kenneth Walsh wants to add a new section to the traffic code that will allow officers to enforce the gates and, if the judge rules in Fairlawn's favor, the barriers at Rothrock Road. "It will say that a motorist cannot drive within 25 feet of the barricades," Riegler said. "We can get the code into place now, but we cannot enforce it on Rothrock Road until the judge makes a decision." Mayor William Roth said people have already tried to drive around the concrete barricades and gates at Rosemont Boulevard. "People try to drive around …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The gates are in the lifted position, and are not yet functional.
The emergency access gates at Rosemont Boulevard are now fully installed, but not yet functional, said Fairlawn Deputy Service Director Ernie Staten. The gate's purpose is to prevent through traffic from using Rosemont Boulevard as an easy access to a future Walmart/Sam's Club development on Rothrock Road. Read more about how the gates work here, and check back with Fairlawn-Bath Patch in the coming weeks to find out when Staten plans to activate the gates.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
The Akron Beacon Journal reports the land was sold to Walmart in September and now someone is suing Copley over it.
It looks like plans to build a proposed Walmart and Sam's Club on Rothrock Road in Copley Township are moving forward. The Akron Beacon Journal reports that on Sept. 20, Larry Levey, of LRC Development Co., sold the property to Walmart for $480,000. As a result of the sale, the owner of Fairway Park Apartments is suing Copley Township. Read more from the Beacon here.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Fairlawn is installing the gate to stop through traffic from using the neighborhood to get to future Walmart development on Rothrock Road.
In a couple weeks, emergency vehicles and buses will use a microphone system to get into the back end of Rosemont Commons from Rosemont Boulevard. Fairlawn officials are installing a lift gate at the intersection of Rothrock Road and Rosemont Boulevard to stop traffic from using the neighborhood as a through-way when Walmart builds on Rothrock Road. The gate will lift when emergency officials or school bus drivers "click the microphone" on their radios. It uses a certain frequency and opens in less than 7 seconds, said Fairlawn Deputy Service Director Ernie Staten. The gate has several fail-safes, as well. The gate is counter-balanced and can be easily lifted in case of a total power failure, which is unlikely, Staten said. When power to …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Decision not likely this week, lawyer says.
When it comes to the Copley vs. Fairlawn suit over the closing of Rothrock Road, no news is news: No decision has come yet regarding the suit closing Rothrock to public traffic in response to Walmart's plans to move about a mile down the road into Copley Township. Copley Township attorney Irv Sugerman said he doesn't expect a decision to be made this week. We'll keep you posted.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
We know it's up to a judge, but we want to know what you think. Vote in our poll and tell us why in the comments.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Summit County Common Please Judge Alison McCarty heard closing arguments Friday.
After a month and a half of trial, the Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road closure trial has come to a close. Attorneys for Copley, Fairlawn and Jacob Pollock gave their closing arguments Friday afternoon in Judge Alison McCarty's courtroom. To make it easy, we'll break apart the closing arguments by attorney. Here's what each one had to say: Jordan Berns, representing Jacob Pollock • "Closing Rothrock Road is illegal for two separate reasons: it's being conducted in bad faith and it is per say unreasonable because it's a principal highway and it connects two communties." • "The first reason Fairlawn's plan is illegal is because it's being carried out in bad faith. It serves no legitimate governmental purpose. It's to protect the residential …
Friday, July 13, 2012
Follow our live feed of the trial and join the conversation here.
The closing arguments for the Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road trial will be heard today. Tune in at 12:30 p.m. for our live feed. Local editor Megan Rozsa will be at the courthouse covering the trial. There are two attorneys for Copley giving closing arguments and they will each have an hour. Stephen Funk, Fairlawn's attorney, will have an hour and a half. There will then be 15 minutes for rebuttal before the trial is officially over. Join the conversation above and tell us what you think. Look for the full story the next morning. Related articles: Roth: Lost Walmart Revenue Not an Issue, I'm Concerned About Runoff' Poll: Who Should Win the Rothrock Road Closure Trial? LIVE: Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road Trial Final Day Catch Up: Last …
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Fairlawn's Mayor William Roth was the final witness in the Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road trial Wednesday.
It was more of the same in the final day of the Rothrock Road closure trial, as Fairlawn's Mayor William Roth took the stand as the city's last witness. Roth was on the stand for six hours, which is a half hour longer than the previous testimony record set by Jason Segedy, director of the Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study. Roth had previously testified as if on cross examination for Copley Township attorney Irv Sugerman and Jacob Pollock attorney Jordan Berns. He stated many of the same things in Fairlawn's direct examination Wednesday. Take our poll: Who should win the Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road closure trial? "I'm concerned about the environmental effect on the area if big-box retail goes in there," Roth said. "Our goal …
Take our poll and tell us why in the comments!
This is it, folks. The Copley v. Fairlawn Rothrock Road closure trial will come to an end Friday afternoon when attorneys give their closing arguments. There have been 11 days of trial in Summit County Common Pleas Judge Alison McCarty's courtroom. The trial started June 1. So after all the testimony — and there's been a lot — we want to know who you think should win the Rothrock Road trial. We also want to know why you feel that way. Will closing Rothrock Road ruin your commute to the Montrose area? Are you concerned about the residents at Copley Place? Are you glad that extra traffic from a Walmart development won't come into your residential neighborhood? We want to know! If you missed any of the trial, and you want to catch up before …
Wilson Miller
1:53 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
As someone that only visits your area once a year, I find it amazing that first of all, the judge in this case has still not rendered a verdict. I know the Ohio elections are over and I do not know if this judge was reelected or not. I have read where Walmart has completed the purchase of the land on Rothrock and I will be interested to see if anything has happened when we are up there this … more ›