Shaker Heights advances Lee Road Action Plan with rezoning proposal creating new CM-2 and CM-3 districts

City begins formal rezoning process for the Chagrin-Lee commercial corridor

Shaker Heights is moving ahead with a proposed overhaul of zoning rules on and near Lee Road, a key step in implementing the city’s Lee Road Action Plan adopted by City Council on March 27, 2023. The plan targets the roughly three-quarter-mile stretch of Lee Road south of Van Aken Boulevard, aiming to support reinvestment and a more walkable, bikeable and transit-friendly commercial corridor.

The zoning package under consideration would restructure Shaker Heights’ Commercial Mixed Use framework and redraw parts of the zoning map for the Lee Road and Larchmere areas. The proposal follows a public hearing held by the Board of Zoning Appeals and City Planning Commission on Jan. 6, 2026, which forwarded a recommendation for Council action.

What the proposed rezoning would change

The ordinance presented to City Council describes both map changes and extensive text updates to the zoning code. The centerpiece is a renaming and expansion of mixed-use districts:

• The existing CM Commercial Mixed Use district would be renamed CM-1.
• Two new districts would be created: CM-2 and CM-3.
• On Lee Road south of Chagrin Boulevard, portions currently classified as C-3 Business Commercial would be replaced with CM-2 and CM-3. The proposal assigns CM-2 to the east side of Lee Road and CM-3 to the west side.
• On Larchmere Boulevard, the proposal would rezone areas now classified as C-2 General Commercial to CM-1.

In addition to remapping districts, the legislation would revise numerous chapters of the zoning code to update permitted and conditional uses, dimensional standards, signage, landscaping and definitions.

How uses on Lee Road could be affected

City planning materials accompanying the proposed ordinance describe several major changes intended to align development rules with the Lee Road Action Plan’s land-use goals. Those changes include allowing restaurants as a permitted use along Lee Road, removing certain automotive-oriented uses from eligibility as conditional uses on Lee Road, and regulating smoke shops as a conditional use within commercial districts.

The proposal is framed as a zoning update to support mixed-use development and to refine allowable uses, building standards and signage across the corridor.

Public review timeline and next steps

City Council scheduled a special meeting for Jan. 12, 2026, at 7 p.m. at Shaker Heights City Hall to begin its review with a first reading. Planning documents provided to Council outline a three-meeting legislative process, with a second reading proposed for Jan. 26, 2026, and a third reading and public hearing proposed for Feb. 9, 2026.

Under the city’s procedures, Council may adopt the Planning Commission recommendation as submitted, adopt it with modifications, refer it back for additional study, deny the amendments, or continue the public hearing.

Rezoning as part of broader corridor implementation

The zoning proposal follows earlier implementation steps tied to the Lee Road Action Plan. In summer 2024, the city carried out a shared parking pilot that combined lots serving six commercial buildings and reduced driveway access points. Separately, planning documents describe a broader set of infrastructure concepts in the action plan, including a road diet and streetscape, lighting and signalization upgrades, and additional bicycle facilities, with zoning changes positioned as a tool to guide future private development alongside public improvements.