Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Weblog

Local housing news:

• The City of Berea will work with the Cuyahoga Land Bank to demolish three vacant houses.
• Chagrin Falls Village Council approved plans for phase two of the River Walk condominiums on West Orange Street.
• An Ohio City developer plans to rehabilitate the former Jay Hotel as market-rate apartments.
• The City of Highland Heights authorized the construction of 18 additional houses in the Aberdeen development.
• Construction of the Clifton Pointe townhouses in Lakewood is on schedule. The 17-unit first phase sold out, and developer Abode intends to proceed with plans for a five-unit second phase. Lakewood City Council is considering a request for a 10-year tax abatement. Some neighbors have concerns about the project.
• A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge upheld Olmsted Falls' zoning regulations, ruling that the City's refusal to rezone a 54-acre site from industrial to residential did not constitute an illegal taking. The property owner is considering his legal options.
• A New York developer plans to build a 125-unit apartment building for seniors on Huffman Road near Stumph Road in Parma. The Parma Planning Commission approved a rezoning for the property.
• The City of Parma plans to raze nine vacant houses that City Council recently designated as nuisance properties.
• The City of South Euclid and the One South Euclid community development corporation started three programs intended to address distressed housing issues.
• The Strongsville Planning Commission approved plans for 15 single-family houses in the Westwood Farms subdivision.

Cuyahoga County residential development projects in the media:

• Local developers plan to convert a cluster of buildings at West 25th Street and Church Avenue in Ohio City to the West 25th Street Lofts, 70 market-rate apartments. They hope to begin construction in March.
• The mixed-use Intesa project in University Circle could include 80 micro-apartments, small units between 300 and 600 square feet.
• Cleveland Heights City Council unanimously approved a development agreement for a planned $11.4 million mixed-use project on the vacant city-owned property at Lee Road and Meadowbrook Boulevard. The four-story, 17,000-square-foot building will include ground-level retail below 77 apartments. The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School Board approved an 11-year, 80% tax abatement for the development.
• The Cleveland Metroparks commissioners authorized development in a portion of the easement that the park system holds on the Mandley-Vetrovsky Funeral Home property in Fairview Park. The agreement enables Abode Living to proceed with plans for a townhouse project.
• As an alternative to a proposed 11-house subdivision, 12 acres of wetlands along Bishop Road in Highland Heights may be preserved as open space.
• Abode Living is considering plans for a second phase of its Clifton Pointe townhouses in Lakewood.
• The Zaremba Group dropped its plans for an apartment complex on the former Locust Grove golf course site at Cedar and Lander roads in Mayfield Heights.
• A proposed apartment building in Rocky River is attracting interest from seniors.
• A proposed cluster home development would add single-family houses at Center Ridge and Crocker roads in Westlake.

Election recap

This month's election included the following issues (PDF):

• Brecksville
  Issue 26 (institutional rezoning): passed
• Broadview Heights
  Issue 29 (prohibit oil and gas drilling): passed

  Activists celebrated its passage, while City officials said it wouldn't stop drilling and could lead to lawsuits against the city.

• Fairview Park
  Issue 52 (church rezoning): passed
• Garfield Heights
  Issue 55 (commercial rezoning): passed
• Highland Heights
  Issue 57 (parking lot rezoning): passed
  Issue 58 (retail rezoning): failed

  City officials and the developer are considering next steps.

• Moreland Hills
  Issue 68 (retail rezoning): passed
• North Royalton
  Issue 73 (planning commission referrals): passed
• Pepper Pike
  Issue 82 (procedures for zoning code revisions): passed
• Solon
  Issue 87 (zoning charter amendment): passed
  Issues 89 & 90 (zoning code changes): passed
• Strongsville
  Issue 97 (senior housing rezoning): passed
• Westlake
  Issue 102 (mixed-use rezoning): passed
• Cuyahoga County
  Issue 108 (Port Authority levy): failed

  Port Authority leaders said they need some time to review their options, and a Plain Dealer editorial said that they "must do a far better job convincing voters it's a good investment."

In Summit County, Green residents voted to ban casino gambling and horse racing.

Visit the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections for complete results.

Leaders in Berea anticipate adopting Cuyahoga County Executive FitzGerald's anti-poaching agreement, while Highland Heights City Council rejected the agreement. Strongsville officials are considering the proposal.

Update: the Sun Messenger says that Highland Heights City Council wants more information on the plan before deciding.

Leaders in Brook Park are considering the water main maintenance and no poaching agreement offered by the City of Cleveland. Highland Heights City Council has also been pondering the proposal.

Update: Brook Park officials continue to discuss the proposal.

The West Creek Conservation Committee wants to purchase a conservation easement for a 37-acre municipally-owned property in Highland Heights. It could become part of an 86-acre greenspace that would also encompass the Dusty Goldenrod Preserve.

Cuyahoga County Airport officials dropped their plans to extend a runway and reroute surrounding roads. The alternative recently approved by the Cuyahoga County Commissioners instead calls for modifications within the airport's existing footprint.

Update: the Plain Dealer has more information. The Sun Messenger also published details about the plans.

A group of Brooklyn Centre residents objects to the Ohio Department of Transportation's plans to install noise walls along I-71. They prefer plant-based noise barriers. Meanwhile, the Cuyahoga County Commissioners adopted a voluntary noise abatement procedure for Cuyahoga County Airport.

Cleveland and Cuyahoga County officials are willing to discuss a possible merger of Burke Lakefront Airport and Cuyahoga County Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration wants both airports to remain open. Meanwhile, County Airport staff is considering alternatives to the airport's master plan.

Update: Cuyahoga County Economic Development Director Paul Oyaski does not support closing Cuyahoga County Airport.

Cleveland Director of Port Control Ricky Smith proposed closing Cuyahoga County Airport and consolidating service at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport. Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones said he'd consider the idea.

Willoughby Hills leaders urged the over 100 people who attended a public hearing to organize in opposition to the planned runway extension at Cuyahoga County Airport. A Euclid Sun Journal editorial also opposes the extension.

Willoughby Hills leaders are still opposed to the runway extension planned for Cuyahoga County Airport, and are examining their options.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners will revisit the Cuyahoga County Airport master plan at their meeting on Thursday. The plan was tabled last April following opposition to runway extension plans from residents and politicians in Highland Heights, Richmond Heights, and Willoughby Hills.

Update: the Commissioners unanimously voted to submit the development plan to the FAA.

This week's Sun papers have more information about the recent ballot issues in Broadview Heights, Chagrin Falls, Highland Heights, South Euclid, Avon, and Twinsburg.

A charter amendment that would forbid development or resource extraction in Highland Heights parks will likely appear on the November ballot. Meanwhile, a natural gas drilling company is suing the City. The company claims that it has authorization to drill in Highland Heights Community Park.

Update: Highland Heights City Council placed the charter amendment on the ballot.

The group Love Our Green Space presented a petition for a charter amendment that would "ban residential, commercial and industrial development" and "prohibit commercial activities such drilling, mining and logging" in Highland Heights parks.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners tabled a vote on plans to extend the runway at Cuyahoga County Airport. The majority of people who testified at yesterday's meeting were opposed to the extension.

The Cuyahoga County Commissioners are expected to vote on Cuyahoga County Airport runway extension plans at their meeting on Thursday morning. The cities of Highland Heights, Richmond Heights, and Willoughby Hills oppose the plan, but the Commissioners say they need to consider economic factors in addition to the opinions of the airport's neighbors.

Richmond Heights City Council voted to officially oppose the proposed runway extension at Cuyahoga County Airport.

Members of Richmond Heights City Council are trying to decide whether to support or oppose the planned Cuyahoga County Airport runway extension. Many residents are firmly opposed to the extension.

A group of Highland Heights residents formed Love Our Green Space and are working to protect City-owned parkland. They are collecting signatures for a referendum issue that would prohibit resource extraction or development in parks.

Cuyahoga County Airport officials have been holding public meetings and making presentations (PDF) to city councils about the latest runway extension plan for the airport. Additional community meetings will be held over the next several months.

The Cuyahoga County Department of Development and its engineering consultant recommended an alternative for extending the runway at Cuyahoga County Airport. The alternative (PDF) calls for extending the runway at both ends and realigning Richmond and Bishop Roads. It does not require the acquisition of any residential properties. Willoughby Hills officials remain opposed to the extension.

Update: the Plain Dealer published more details and a diagram.

The Friends of Euclid Creek purchased a conservation easement to protect 12.5 acres of a 37 acre property owned by the Mayfield City School District. The pocket prairie in Highland Heights is home to 408 types of plants, including rare and endangered species. The purchase was funded by a Natural Resources Assistance Council grant.

In November, Highland Heights residents will have the opportunity to vote on a proposed rezoning of the former gas station at Wilson Mills Road and Alpha Drive from motor service district to general business. The owner of a neighboring shopping center wants to use the gas station site as part of a revitalization of the shopping strip.

The Plain Dealer reminds readers that Burke Lakefront Airport is built upon landfill and dredge material, and would require extensive remediation and stabilization in order to be redeveloped. Meanwhile, some suggest that instead of closing Burke, the Cuyahoga County Airport should be closed and its traffic shifted to Burke.

Alternative expansion plans for the expansion of Cuyahoga County Airport are under consideration after the Cuyahoga and Lake County Commissioners rejected the initial option of expanding into Willoughby Hills.

Willoughby Hills residents and politicians are opposed to an expansion of the Cuyahoga County Airport that may be proposed in the master plan currently being conducted. Willoughby Hills City Council recently hired attorney David Zoll to help fight any expansion.

(Update: The News-Herald provides additional details.)

Mayor Lorenz of Willoughby Hills announced that "all facts and figures point towards" expansion of the Cuyahoga County Airport runway in Willoughby Hills by 900 feet, but Cuyahoga County Department of Development Director Paul Oyaski said that "No decision has been made about runway expansion."