CLP Junction

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Sutterlin proposal submitted to judge

By Jane Smith
MEADVILLE TRIBUNE

Conneaut Lake Park filed its formal petition Thursday in Crawford County Court of Common Pleas to sell 3.3 acres of land for $1.7 million to Gregory Sutterlin of Conneaut Lake.

However, a hearing on the petition hadn't been set at 4:20 p.m. as the court administrator hadn't received it.

By Law, a hearing must be set to allow any creditors to voice opinions in support or objection to the sale. Attorney Christopher J Youngs filed the petition on behalf of the park, asking for approval for court-appointed overseer LeRoy Stearns to sell the land.

Youngs said the sale would give the park the ability to pay off all the real estate taxes (approximately $470,000) and most of the other mortgages and liens including $175,000 to certificate holders. Those are certificates purchased to open the park several years ago, which purchasers chose not to redeem several years ago. The park "believes that some lien holders will compromise their claims in order to facilitate this sale," according to the petition.

That's because number included in the plan show the recorded liens and charges total $1.8735 million, excluding the 30-years, 1-percent interest rate mortgage of $476,920 owed for a PennVEST loan to improve the park's sewer system.

That in turn allowed the Conneaut Lake Joint Municipal Authority the ability to lift a moratorium against new hookups. According to authority officials, 14 new customers and 65 from the park were added after those improvements were made. It allowed the ability of future development projects, such as the Snow Waters condominium project, to have access to municipal waste services.

Had that not happened, no new development (or residential properties) would have been permitted to be added in either Summit or Sadsbury townships.

Sutterlin plans to construct condominiums on the land, formerly known as the Flynn House site and adjacent parking lot -- if Summit Township approves a zoning ordinance change allowing him to construct 10 condos per acre versus the current six units allowed (Supervisors are to act on that request April 11.)

Without that change, Sutterlin said it isn't economically feasible to purchase the land. That change is a requirement of the sales agreement.

The Flynn site was where a private residence was located before it burned in 2005. The adjacent parking lot has a picnic pavilion on it.

Included in the paperwork is an appraisal of the land for $1,083,000, done by Vicki Berry, also known as Vicki Gillette. She calculated the price based on an inspection and various data related to appraisals according to the standards use din the industry.

In her report, Berry said the lakefront parcel has a market value of $825,000 and the adjacent rear lot (the parking lot), $258,000.

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The hearing is April 17