INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — It’s a battle Independence residents didn’t think they’d have to fight.
Matthew Benkner has lived on Stone Road for more than a decade.
When deciding to move to Independence, he said land was a big factor. Now, he said he’s fighting to keep that land from further erosion due to a potential new development wiping out the trees near his home.
“There is a conflict we have,” Benkner stated.
The City of Independence Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on Feb. 4 to gather feedback on a preliminary plan for the Concordia Village subdivision. The Commission is now asking that City Council approve the plan.
The proposal is to knock down 18.2 acres of trees behind the Concordia Lutheran Church.
Replacing that forestry would be at least 57 single-family homes maintained by a Home Owner’s Association.
The development would be combined with approximately 2.58 acres of land behind the historic Independence Fire Station on Brecksville Road.
Benkner doesn’t support the proposal and fears the domino effect that might follow the development, including an increase in flooding on his property.
“One of the big concerns is the water. When you remove 18 acres of old growth forest, that water is no longer going to be absorbed by those trees and has to go somewhere, which is downhill, which is all of us that live lower than this development on Stone Road,” Benkner explained.
Flooding in his area is already a headache, according to Benkner.
“Flooding happens anytime we get rain that's more than a drizzle. If it's a steady rain for more than a half hour, I have standing water in my backyard, and that water has to then come through the front yard, which is slowly but surely moving my driveway slabs off where they're supposed to be and down the hill into the street,” Benkner said.
Benkner showed me where the water typically runs down Stone Road. He said the flooding had eroded the road itself and disconnected the sides from the ground.
He and his neighbor, Katie Saylor, noted concern number two: older oak trees being cut down.
“Studies have shown the very old ones that are 200 to 400 years old are very, very rare because we humans are actually changing the environment,” Saylor stated.
According to Arboretum researchers, an estimated 41% of the world’s Oak species are of conservation concern. 31% are considered threatened with extinction.
The Developer has submitted a tree study in compliance with the City’s preliminary site plan requirements. It identified all trees with a 12-inch diameter or greater would need to be cleared to allow for the installation of utilities and proper grading of the site.
“It's changing the layout of the land here and we've been begging and pleading,” Saylor added. “They're talking about combining [the proposed development and the Cleveland Clinic Facility lot], making this retention bigger and if we could get them to tie it into the storm sewer, they could possibly remedy all our problems.”
But simply making a retention pond larger is not a solution neither Saylor nor Benkner want.
“Even with a big retention basin, it'll just able to hold more water which will then send more water down the way,” Saylor stated.
Saylor and Benkner told me they’ve made their opinions very clear to city council but feel as if their concerns have fallen on deaf ears.
“You feel like you're not accomplishing anything because they're not listening, but at the same time I have to be able to look at my kid and say ‘I'm trying. I'm trying to do something to keep what we have here from disappearing,’” Benkner added.
Saylor and Benkner said all they want is for city council to slow its roll and listen to the frustrations and concerns of their constituents.
We reached out to the City of Independence for an interview, but no one was available Monday night, according to a spokesperson.
The next Independence City Council meeting will be Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The topic of the Concordia Development is on the agenda for a first reading. Legislation needs to go through three readings before a vote, but city council can suspend rules to vote on it immediately.
