Public Comment

You amendment that REQUIRES the ATM contract for City Hall can ONLY be awarded to a bank that has a CRA with the City of Cleveland is so short sighted. While I agree that any BANK should have a CRA, it fails to realize that many of the applicants for the contract would have been ATM OPERATORS, like me - a BLACK OWNED, FEMALE OWNED, CLEVELAND based ATM provider and servicer. This shooting from the hip that council CONTINUES to do, hurts ALL CLEVELANDERS! Shame on you!

As a concerned citizen deeply involved in public safety, economic stability and environmental welfare, I believe that we urgently need to revise our Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. Our roads and highways are populated with vehicles that are too large (posing safety concerns) , too heavy (destroying our roads faster), and too inefficient (disproportionately contributing to climate change). Have you seen this petition yet? Revise CAFE Standards for Safer, More Efficient Non-Commercial Vehicles Please sign and share! - https://chng.it/qLV6GbLF7H Thank you, Stewart O'Marah

As a concerned resident, I strongly oppose Ordinance 791-2024, which seeks to rezone a parcel currently under the Pedestrian Retail Overlay (PRO) for general retail use, with present intent to allow a new gas station development. This site, adjacent to Marion C. Seltzer Elementary School and Cudell Commons Park, is incompatible with such a car-centric business, creating safety hazards for pedestrians, children, and cyclists. The gas station proposal disregards the long-term potential for sustainable, pedestrian-friendly development and ignores community feedback, which has been overwhelmingly against it. Both the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Planning Commission have rejected this rezoning, and the ordinance risks setting a dangerous precedent for spot zoning that undermines the city’s planning efforts. The proposed gas station not only threatens to worsen traffic and pollution near a school and park but also compromises the future of this vibrant, transit-rich area, better suited for other development. I urge Council to respect the community's needs and vote against this short-sighted ordinance.

As a resident living within 600 feet of this site, I am writing to note my opposition to the proposed zoning change to rezone a parcel within a C2 Local Retail Business District as a General Retail district and remove the Pedestrian Retail Overlay District (PRO). I interact with this location multiple times per day as either a pedestrian accessing GCRTA service or as a cyclist. As with the gas station variance that was denied by the Board of Zoning Appeals on May 6, the current PRO exists to specifically prevent the types of use cases that this rezoning would allow and permitting this change would degrade the already dangerous conditions for pedestrians at this intersection. Additionally, allowing a car-centric business such as a gas station, car sales lots, and other uses that would become permitted by right would have negative implications for the streets leading to the site, as well as the adjacent Cudell Commons Park and Marion C. Seltzer elementary school. In fact, the US EPA school siting guidelines indicate that a gas station should not be within 1000 feet of schools. Marion C. Seltzer Elementary sits approximately 200 feet from this site Since prospective, car-centric uses for this parcel were introduced to the community in February, I have been dismayed at the overwhelming lack of engagement within the Cudell community. This site straddles the border between two wards and is primarily surrounded by Ward 15, while nearly all of the adjacent residents live within Ward 15. Aside from a neighborhood meeting hosted on March 21 in which the neighborhood was overwhelmingly opposed to car-centric land uses, there has been no willingness to engage with residents to discuss the proposed land use and/or zoning changes. This proposal to spot zone a parcel in an established PRO undermines the will of local residents as well as the recent progress made to establish the Transportation Demand Management zones (which this lot falls within) as well as the adjacent Form Based Code pilot area. Allowing car-centric uses in such a transit-rich location is shortsighted and runs counter to the City's goals of creating denser, sustainable communities. This location is well served by the Red Line, #18, #25, and #26 buses, the latter two being 24/7 service. Therefore, my opposition is strongly based in my belief that the proposed zoning change will have negative implications for the site and surrounding neighborhood, and would preclude this location from being used for a higher and better use for the foreseeable future. While the currently vacant building is not ideal, changing zoning to allow for the creation of a new brownfield is far worse. I understand the owner feels a gas station is necessary for a successful retail component, but any type of retail is going to be a challenge, regardless of whether it has a gas station attached to it or not. Additionally, according to the owner's representative at the February community meeting, there are no letters of interest or letters of commitment from the proposed tenants, meaning we have no sense of what would actually be in the development anyway. According to the 2017 NOACA Regional TOD Scorecard and Implementation Plan, this location is primed for residential and office development. Additionally, with the aforementioned transit connections that service this location, the lot is well suited to accommodate the growing market for different housing types . Both housing (10-20 units) with a minimum project value of $2M and/or smaller-scale Class A office/professional space would be a good, low-impact site uses that support a growing neighborhood. The current zoning was established to channel market forces into productive outcomes, and is is important to continue thinking strategically and longer-term instead of brute forcing this environmentally negative and short-sited plan.

I’m frustrated by the Councilman’s actions with regards to how he’s going about this development by going way out of his way to make this happen with a business use that has ZERO site compatibility. The adjacent lot is a school and park which is wholly incompatible with a gas station that will sell tobacco & alcohol. In addition, it will create heavy traffic by a school, park, & rec center where kids are walking. Why isn’t the councilman creating a vision for this larger site in the midst of a residential & commercial district that would have benefit to youth rather than aiming for the very lowest common denominator of business (gas & convenience) that will harm youth and likely harm future development potential of this site. Critical to note that Gas stations require underground storage tanks which often leak during their lifecycle thus requiring expensive clean-up before the site can be reused for another purpose. In summary, why is the Councilman thinking so short term with regard to this site when doing so will cause damage in the present & the future? Where is the vision for the community and our youth? Important to remember that this site is adjacent to the Tamir Rice Memorial which is roughly 150’ away. I ask again, why is this council person, a public servant, seem to be lacking any regard for the public/community/youth in this area (his ward tho he does not reside in his ward) This whole gas station idea seems to be entirely self serving, not the work of a public servant.

Councilperson Danny Kelly is fighting tooth and nail to site a gas station at the corner of West Blvd and Madison in Cudell, despite opposition from the community and being voted down by both the Board of Zoning Appeals AND the Planning Commission. This section of Madison is protected from certain undesirable uses -- like gas stations -- by a Pedestrian Retail Overlay, and has longer-term potential to become a vibrant and Complete & Green corridor. Councilperson Kelly is now trying to pass an ordinance through Council that would circumvent the PRO protection and allow "spot zoning" at this site, something that could set a really bad precedent and have negative consequences for sustainable and pedestrian-friendly development in neighborhoods across the city. Please respect the public trust, our community's longer-term needs, and this city's core values by voting against Ordinance 791-2024. Thank you.

Hello Council, Since I have not received any response to my most recent private email I have sent, I will write here as well. There is a growing number of community members and Ward 11 residents in active opposition to Ordinance 791-2024, which will change the Pedestrian Retail Overlay district code to general retail--allowing for a gas station to be developed. The PRO was put in place for a reason. Spot zoning sets a dangerous precedent in our city that any code put in place for the betterment of the city can be overturned simply because a council person decides it. The Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Planning Commission have rejected proposals to change the code on this lot, so to push it through, Danny Kelly has expressed intent to bring it to Council (Ordinance 791-2024) for a 2/3 majority vote to override it. If the experts of city planning in Cleveland have rejected the proposals for very valid reasons, it should not be forced through. This lot borders Cudell Park and Marion C. Seltzer Elementary. Adding a gas station will make the already dangerous intersection at West Blvd and Madison Ave more congested and dangerous. In addition, the emissions from the gas station are harmful to our youth and the affordable housing units neighboring the vacant lot. The attempts to push a gas station through on this lot is a blatant disregard for the community and its needs. Would a gas station even be proposed in a higher-income ward? Or are we simply too poor to influence politics in Cleveland? In short, please vote against Ordinance 791-2024 should it come to you. Thank you.

speed notification on Fulton parkway? The amount of drag racing, dirt bikes and immense speeding down this street is insane! Sometimes even drag racing. Not to mention people disregarding the traffic light on Park drive. Just running through red lights. Since I've been here I've seen 7 car crashes, a dog and cat ran over and also that truck that ran through the house on the corner. This is a very busy neighborhood with adults and children. Especially with people visiting brookside reservation and walking to the zoo daily. I'm not the only person concerned in this neighborhood. Especially the parents with small children. At least one of those digital signs that shows ones speed while driving. I think that would deter most people. Thank you

The administration that run the juvenile detention center are in over their heads. The way they are running the detention center is like a daycare. I mean a daycare has more structure than CCJDC. The youth are running the housing units and the gang activity is ever present. Visitors only receive a 30 day ban when caught bringing contraband (e.i. Drugs) into the facility by attempting to pass them off to their loved ones. No the police nor the sheriff are called. These youth have no consequences for bad behavior. They are permitted to attack each other and staff without any effective punishment. It is time for this administration and the judges be held accountable for the poor overlooking and control that they have demonstrated.

I am submitting a comment regarding the old CVS building on W. 103rd St. The community is under the impression that they are trying to put a gas station/food Mart in this location. I personally would like an up and running business rather than an old abandoned building in the neighborhood. The fact that there will be a food mart, I think will be beneficial to the local residents, please consider my comments in this decision making .