Garage Delayed Over Flooding Concerns on Pembrooke Court

A Progress Park homeowner’s plans for a new garage on his property have been delayed due to concerns about flooding on neighboring Pembrooke Court.

Stow City Council gave the first reading to a resolution that would allow a new accessory building at 2640 Progress Park Drive recently.

Rather than suspend council’s rules requiring three readings and approve the plan on first reading, which is common for such requests, council opted to give the issue three readings — and thus several weeks to consider — after hearing complaints from nearby residents over flooding they say may be related to the property.

The request from Max Currier, who lives at 2640 Progress Park Drive, is for a conditional zoning certificate to build an 1,800-square-foot accessory building.

Currier told Stow City Council June 10 the building would not have electrical service.

“I’m putting this garage in for storage purposes only,” he said. “I have a lot of stuff to store and I don’t want it sitting outside cluttering up the yard.”

Currier’s 3.6 acre lot runs parallel to Pembrooke Court, where residents say they’ve experienced increased flooding in their yards since Currier bought and starting building on his property in 2011.

Terry Lutheran, of 4450 Pembrooke Court, said he lives directly behind Currier’s house and has nothing against him personally but is concerned adding another structure, and removing more trees, on the lot will add to storm water run-off into his neighborhood.

“We’ve never had flooding like this,” Lutheran said.

City officials in both the planning and engineering departments said they are aware of flooding and drainage issues on Pembrooke Court, but the issue is not directly connected to Currier’s building of his property.

“The addition of this structure … is separate from that existing storm water situation,” Stow Planning Director Rob Kurtz said.

Tony Catalano, the chief building inspector for the city of Stow, said Currier likely reduced storm water run-off into the Pembrooke Court neighborhood by virtue of yard and house drains he installed that connect to the city’s storm sewers at the street.

“This garage and that house has nothing to do with the flooding issue back there,” he said.

Sheila Rayman, Stow’s assistant city engineer, said the plans for the new garage include drains that tie in to the existing drains that run out to Progress Park Drive.

“So that is correct and what we like to see,” she said.

Stow Councilman Mike Rasor said Currier’s proposed garage may have been a blessing in disguise for Pembrooke Court residents because it alerted council to the issue in their neighborhood.

“Which is pretty severe flooding,” Rasor said.