Green City Council is set to vote on whether 27.8 acres of long-vacant industrial land along Stein Road should instead become home to 115 new apartments, a proposal that has already split the city's own planning commission and drawn warnings from municipal staff about eating into the city's industrial corridor near Interstate 77.
The public hearing on Ordinance 2026-24 is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight during the regular City Council meeting at Green City Hall, located at 1755 Town Park Boulevard, according to NEOhio.news. The ordinance would rezone the Stein Road parcels from industrial to multi-family residential at the request of Redwood Living, and the proposal has already cleared the first two of three required readings, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
As detailed by the newspaper, the land sits near Massillon Road and I-77, and the Redwood concept calls for 115 rental units spread across 24 single-story buildings, working out to roughly 4.1 units per acre. Akron.com reports the breakdown includes 14 one-bedroom, 68 two-bedroom, and 33 three-bedroom units spanning three vacant parcels owned by RJS Corp, all tied to the same 24-building layout described by the Beacon Journal.
Landowner Says Decades of Vacancy Pushed the Request
Tadd Schwarz of RJS Corp said the company has operated in Green since 1966 and reached out to the city to find a developer for an industrial use of the property, according to Akron.com. If approved, the project would mark Redwood Living's second development in Green — the company previously built Redwood Green at 3916 South Arlington Road, a 153-unit, single-story rental community completed in 2017 under a 2012 municipal development agreement, the outlet's reporting notes.
Brad Schneider, Redwood's vice president of acquisitions, said the Stein Road location is desirable because of its proximity to I-77, its convenience, and its nearness to restaurants and the existing Redwood apartments at the VC Station site, per the Beacon Journal. Schneider pointed to other Redwood neighborhoods built near highways in Avon and Norton as precedent, and said the company could explore a berm or other natural barrier to buffer highway noise and improve the visual appeal of units closest to the freeway, the paper reported.
Planning Staff and Commissioners Split Over Industrial Land Loss
City planning staff raised concerns about compatibility with the surrounding industrial uses, flagging truck traffic, lighting, noise, extended operating hours, and ongoing industrial activity as issues, according to the Beacon Journal. Staff also voiced worries about highway noise, outdoor living conditions, and whether the site is even suitable for residential use so close to I-77, the paper reported, while separately noting that the planning department was concerned about permanently removing land from the city's industrial property stock.
That concern tracks with Green's own comprehensive land use plan, which supports long-term use of suitable properties near I-77 for industrial and employment-related development and identifies industrial growth near the interstate as a desired outcome for the city, per the Beacon Journal's reporting. Stein Road itself feeds directly into Massillon Road, or State Route 241, a corridor widened to four lanes with roundabouts to help delivery trucks reach business parks, according to Forklifts in Green.
Those competing priorities played out at the Green Planning and Zoning Commission's meeting on August 19, when commissioners split 3-2 on whether to recommend the rezoning to City Council. Commissioners Bishman, Birch, and Anderson voted to forward a favorable recommendation, while Commissioners Jeananne Chadsey and Maria Thrasher voted no, according to Citizen Portal. Commissioner Mike Burch said at that meeting that Green's industrial areas are not growing as hoped and that the Stein Road land has simply sat idle, per the Beacon Journal, while Chadsey countered that planning staff rarely warns so strongly against a proposal and said she had grave concerns about protecting the industrial corridor.
What the Zoning Change Would Actually Allow
Under Green's codified ordinances, I-1 General Industrial Districts strictly limit land to manufacturing, warehousing, and commercial operations, while R-2 Multi-Family Residential Districts accommodate attached housing at moderate densities, according to American Legal Publishing, which hosts the city's code. Shifting the Stein Road parcels from one designation to the other would permanently move the land out of the city's available industrial inventory if council gives final approval.
Nearby Summit County communities have taken the opposite approach with their own industrial land, with Akron and Barberton both maintaining dedicated municipal industrial parks — including Akron's Massillon Road Industrial Park — to preserve manufacturing sites and attract corporate investment, according to the City of Akron. That regional pattern underscores the tension planning staff raised about Green potentially giving up ground in the competition for employment-generating development along the I-77 corridor.
Green City Council handled other business at the September meeting where it set tonight's hearing date, approving budget amendments tied to a bond refinancing that generated roughly $237,000 in net savings for the city, per NEOhio.news. Whether council will require additional buffering such as mounding or sound barriers along I-77, whether neighboring property owners will speak up during public comment, and how council members ultimately align relative to the planning commission's narrow 3-2 recommendation all remain open questions heading into tonight's vote.
