Joe's Auto Owner Pumps the Brakes on Development Plan

The proposed Joe's Auto development plan might be taking a detour.

Earlier this week, the Stow Sentry reported Vince Bowen, owner of Joe's Auto, intended to move his car repair and tow business to 488 E. Steels Corners Rd. in Cuyahoga Falls from its existing location at 3679 Darrow Rd. in Stow.

Planning and Zoning Director Fred Guerra and the Cuyahoga Falls Planning Commission were under the same impression as Bowen's plan called for a new 2,800-square-foot building and 11,000-square-foot impound lot at the 1.813-acre Falls site.

The Steels Corners parcel, zoned E-1 Employment, appeared to be the ideal site as it allows for auto repair, and can include the use of a tow/impound lot after a conditional zoning permit has been issued.

At its Nov. 6 meeting, the planning commission unanimously approved the zoning permit, given the plan it had in front of them.

However, according to a Nov. 15 phone interview with Patch, Bowen said he wasn't necessarily interested in relocating his business or building a new car repair shop.

“Our impound lot gets full, so we were looking to try and get something for an overflow lot," he said. "When we looked in Stow, nothing close or reasonable in price was anywhere zoned that we could get conditional zoning for.

For me to put together the financing and everything else (for the Cuyahoga Falls location), I needed to know for sure if we could even go over there before I even tried to pursue it."

Bowen said he'd wait for Cuyahoga Falls City Council to give final approval before he made his decision on how to proceed. 

When hearing of Bowen's intent, Guerra said, "We’d have to reconsider (the plan). We all assumed it was both a car repair facility and an impound lot. That’s something (the planning commission) would have to discuss."

In other words, when the plan goes before Council on Nov. 19, it will likely be kicked back to the commission for reconsideration. 

The next planning commission meeting will be held Nov. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Natatorium.