With a new Amazon fulfillment center preparing to become their new neighbor, residents of Akron's Kenmore neighborhood said Sept. 2 they're hopeful about the economic benefits but concerned about traffic and property values near the former Akron Baptist Temple site.
Ward 9 City Councilwoman Tina Boyes, whose territory includes the site most recently used by The Word Church, hosted representatives from Amazon and Ambrose Property Group -- an Indianapolis-based developer working with the company on the proposal -- at her monthly ward meeting at the Kenmore Community Center. Much of the discussion centered on the traffic impact on Rimer CLC, a nearby elementary school.
How is Amazon addressing and responding to traffic concerns?
William and Acacia Reynolds, a married couple living in Akron's West Hill neighborhood who formerly worked as Amazon Flex delivery drivers, were among the meeting's more than 60 attendees. William Reynolds asked whether Flex delivery traffic will be congested like it was at Amazon's Middleburg Heights sub same-day fulfillment center when he picked up orders there years ago.
Kyle DeGiulio, senior manager of economic development policy at Amazon, said the building planned for the former Akron church site on Manchester Road -- which would fill orders of groceries and pharmacies in addition to other items -- would be different from the Middleburg Heights facility. The Middleburg Heights building is shared with other tenants, while Amazon alone would use the fulfillment center that it is proposing in Akron, DeGiulio said.
"If there are requirements that would go into mitigation, whether it be signals, widening of lanes, certainly that's something that we're not rigid on," DeGiulio said. "But ... if it can't flow for us, it doesn't flow for anybody else."
City of Akron Planning Director Kyle Julien said the applicants completed a traffic study at the end of the 2024-2025 school year but that he and his colleagues requested they redo the study because, historically, more students attend school at the building of an academic year as opposed to the end of it.
The applicants will conduct another study the week of Sept. 7, Julien said.
Further, Julien added, the development group plans to visit Rimer CLC to speak with staff and parents in the coming weeks after they were invited by Principal Anthony Lane.
"So, they're engaging with the school community, as well, to their credit," Julien said.
Acacia Reynolds is running as an independent for the Akron Ward 1 council seat in November. (Democrat Fran Wilson, a community organizer who is facing off against Reynolds in the race, also attended the Sept. 2 Ward 9 meeting.) Referencing her work as a pharmacy technician, she said a sub same-day fulfillment center in Akron would allow patients to receive their prescriptions more quickly.
Still, the Reynolds' questioned Amazon's and Ambrose's plans for traffic flow in the companies' proposed conditional-use permit application with the city.
Ahead of the Akron Planning Commission and City Council reviewing the proposal, Summit County Councilwoman Bethany McKenney, whose District 7 includes the site for the proposed development, said via text message that she supports the project as long as traffic flows properly.
"I'd like to see the property used for something that benefits the community and I think this could," McKenney said. "What was once a dilapidated building could now be a location that produces jobs."
One meeting attendee asked if large trucks would travel down nearby residential streets.
Amazon routes its trucks away from neighborhoods where tractor-trailers are not permitted, DeGiulio said. He added that some drivers make mistakes -- and when they do, management coaches them on which routes they should take.
More broadly, DeGiulio said of tractor-trailers, "This building is not a truck-heavy user, so even on our busiest day, you're talking 20 or fewer trucks per day."
How tall would Amazon building be? Would it be noisy? Eco-friendly?
The proposed, roughly 387,000-square-foot structure would be about 35 to 40 feet in height but with grading of the land so that it would be "sitting lower," said Cody Garrison, Ambrose vice president of development operations.
"The finished floor of the building could sit up to 10 feet below the highest point of Manchester Road, which is on the north," Garrison said.
Noise receptors monitor throughout the day and night, Garrison said, adding that the plan is for the building not to create "any more noise into the community than what is currently there today."
"We don't want to have light pollution, which is light off of the property," Garrison said.
Responding to an audience question about environmental responsibility, Garrison said, "Amazon is very committed to the environment, very committed to being eco-friendly."
Garrison said plans include "low-flow fixtures, LED lights, all-electric heating and cooling in lieu of gas."
Will property values be affected?
One Kenmore resident said she lives right near the site where the center is being proposed and asked if her property value could be affected.
DeGiulio replied, "We are not pursuing any economic development incentives here that would be reducing Amazon's property tax that we pay for the site. So, theoretically, without being a tax expert myself, (there would be) more money going into the property tax 'piggy bank,' if you will, in the area."
Additionally, DeGiulio said the fulfillment center would not be a "traditional large industrial user that I think people would have obvious concerns about having" near their homes.
Job opportunities for proposed Amazon fulfillment center
DeGiulio said a conservative estimate for jobs created by the site is about 150 full-time positions.
Amazon spokeswoman Paula Morrison said via email additional employment opportunities include part-time and "flex time" jobs. Amazon Flex drivers, she said, are a separate category and are independent contractors.
Amazon expects about 800 to 1,000 Flex driving trips in and out of the facility per day, DeGiulio said. He added that Flex drivers who pick up orders from the facility will also pick orders up from other Amazon facilities or locations of Whole Foods, which Amazon owns.
Boyes said increases in area employees and traffic create economic development opportunities, such as the creation of grocery stores and other amenities that Kenmore residents have been asking about.
"The more daytime employees you have, the more average daily traffic you have, on Manchester Road, the more opportunities there are to get that type of thing within the neighborhood," Boyes said. "So, that's something to keep in mind."
Kenmore neighbors say they welcome Amazon fulfillment center
At one point in the meeting, an attendee said, "I just want to say I'm really happy for this facility going here."
"Me too," another attendee said.
"I think it'll be good for our neighborhood," Jan Williams, Kenmore Historical Society president, said prior to the meeting. "I'm pleased."
Colliers Cleveland/Akron Senior Vice President Ed Matzules said before the meeting that everything has been moving smoothly from his vantage point and that his client, property owner The Word Church, hopes the deal closes by the end of 2025.
Pending approvals from city officials, the developers plan to start building in the first quarter of 2026, Garrison said.
Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal's business and consumer newsletter, "What's The Deal?"
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What are Akron residents saying about Amazon's plans in Kenmore?