SUMMIT TOWNSHIP — The future of Conneaut Lake Park now is in the hands of Summit Township supervisors following a standing-room-only hearing Wednesday night.

About 75 people crowded the township building for a 45-minute public hearing to offer input about changing a zoning ordinance.

If supervisors agree to change the ordinance, it will allow a proposed sale of land to move forward to the next step, giving the park the money it needs to open this year.

If the ordinance is not changed, the sale will not happen and the park may not have the money to open.

One by one, residents stood to address the supervisors in support or against the change which would increase the maximum number of condominiums allowed to be built on an acre of land.

Only 12 of the approximately 75 people voiced opinions. Eight were in favor of the change, three against it, and one voiced qualified support.

Currently, the ordinance restricts condo units to six per acre. However, Gregory Sutterlin of Conneaut Lake requested the amendment to allow him to purchase what he said is 3.6 acres of land at the park. Previous reports were the acreage totaled 3.3 acres. The survey includes some houses which will remain on the property, reducing the available acreage for construction to 3.3.

Summit Township attorney William Walker said the hearing was about changing the ordinance, not about the sale of property. He researched limits other townships have and they ranged from 2.9 per acre in Oil Creek Township to more than 14 per acre in adjacent Sadsbury Township. Seventeen per acre are allowed in the city of Meadville.

William Gregg, Sutterlin’s attorney, presented the proposal and asked supervisors to give it “favorable consideration.”

He noted the proposal meets the land use objectives of the township business district, which is to “foster creative and diverse residential development in the township.”

He continued that it would enhance the tax base, and “in our view, we feel give the park the opportunity to pay its debt.”

Sutterlin said the proposal would “save the amusement park and put it on a firm foundation for our community.” In addition, he said it matches what a master plan for Conneaut Lake Park calls for, including high density residential development and lakefront/lakeview development.

Answering concerns expressed previously by others, Sutterlin said he has hired an architect, and said the condos will “not be cookie cutters,” but will be constructed in a Victorian theme to match that of Hotel Conneaut.

Sutterlin also had letters from the Conneaut Lake Joint Municipal Authority and from Conneaut Lake Park that the sewer system and the park’s water system can handle the new construction.

Mark Turner, Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County executive director, confirmed the proposal is “consistent with the master plan” developed by the Alliance. He said he is not opposed to the zoning change or to the sale of the property.