LUCAS COUNTY, Ohio — A Lucas County Common Pleas judge on Monday approved a conditional use permit for a Waterville property that was intended to house the controversial amphitheater project.
But the developer behind the project, who has since moved on to take the reins of the summer concert series in downtown Toledo's Promenade Park, told WTOL 11 he won't return to the development even after Judge Lindsay Navarre ruled favorably for it in the civil suit filed by residents who live nearby the property that allege the city's actions in approval of the permit were illegal.
"This ruling basically says if I was to move forward in Waterville, there's nothing stopping us," Hunter Brucks said. "We appreciate the ruling, but I'm not interested in it anymore."
Waterville Mayor Tim Pedro told WTOL 11 Monday that Navarre's ruling proves the city acted within municipal code.
HBC Management, run by Brucks, sought to construct an amphitheater off of U.S. 24 in Waterville. City Council meetings on the project brought residents and area business owners out in droves, passionately arguing for and against the project as Brucks pitched a major entertainment venue that would boost the city's economy and draw crowds to the 6,000-resident city.
The amphitheater debate eventually deadlocked in the Lucas County Board of Elections and made its way to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office, which deemed the construction not subject to referendum. The BOE then denied a proposed ballot measure for a road extension crucial to construction. Brucks then decided to give up on Waterville and turned his sights to the live entertainment scene in the Glass City.
While Brucks' involvement with Waterville may be over, Devonshire REIT, Inc., the real estate investment company that owns the property near the interchange of U.S. Route 24 and State Route 64 near South Pray Boulevard, says the project still has plenty of life left in it.
"Yeah, the project's not dead. I mean we own the land and we have an approved site for an amphitheater," Devonshire REIT Vice President Gary Yunker told WTOL 11 a week before Navarre's ruling. "We're now just waiting for some litigation to get resolved in Lucas County Common Pleas court."
Yunker also told WTOL 11 that if Devonshire can't find anyone interested in turning this plot of land into an amphitheater, there are plenty of more options the company is looking into that the land is already zoned for. He said conversations with interested parties have only recently begun again, so it will likely be a few months before a call is made.
Tim Plowman, a spokesperson for the group of residents that filed the suit, said the amphitheater simply does not fit Waterville.
"We don't live out here for concerts, we live out here for a quiet, peaceful safe place for our kids to go to school, for our grandparents to retire in peace," he said. "That's what makes Waterville special."
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comment from Waterville Mayor Tim Pedro on the ruling.