A 64-by-110 foot addition to Akron Children's Hospital at 5480 Norquest Blvd. is expected to be completed this year. Austintown Zoning Inspector Darren Crivelli listed the project among the two largest started in 2019 in the township.

AUSTINTOWN — Growth in the township in 2019 might not have been record breaking, but it was steady, said Austintown Zoning Inspector Darren Crivelli.

Crivelli’s office issued 335 permits in 2019, for $8.6 million worth of development. That amount includes 15 new homes and a duplex.

“We are running out of lots in our platted subdivisions,” he said. “I think we could have had a higher number of housing permits had we had more available building lots.”

Topping the 2019 list of permits are two medical buildings. The first, a $2.447 million building at 1440 S. Canfield-Niles Road, is owned by D.C.M.D. Holding LLC.

The second is a 64-by-110-foot addition to Akron Children’s Hospital, 5480 Norquest Blvd., that came in at $1.26 million. Both projects are expected to be completed this year.

A project to rebuild a carwash at 4429 Kirk Road is expected to cost $350,000. Crivelli said the company took down an old six-bay, hand washing facility and is replacing it with a two-bay, fully automatic car wash.

Looking toward 2020, Crivelli said he is hoping for a continued steady growth. He said there are still available commercial lots on North Canfield-Niles Road near Hollywood Gaming. He also is hoping to see growth in the western part of the township along the Mahoning Avenue corridor and continued medical and financial buildings on South Canfield-Niles Road.

Crivelli’s office continues to receive phone calls on the new Meijer project at the site of the former Fitch High School / Austintown Middle School building and the former Austintown library location. The former buildings have been demolished and not a lot of activity has taken place.

“Residents continue to call and are looking forward to it coming to the township,” Crivelli said. “They only have to submit their storm water plans for the property.”

He said the target date is still 2021 as far as he knows. The planned facility would be 195,000 square feet, making it one of the township’s largest stores.