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Oakwood supporters packed the place last night at the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting

posted Jan 4, 2011, 7:13 PM by Fran Mentch

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who came to the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting to show their support for Oakwood. The meeting on 1/3/11 was so full of people that chairs were brought from other rooms to accommodate the crowd; even then the group of about 75 people spilled out into the hallway outside council chambers.

 

About 20 people spoke; all of their presentations were very articulate, fact-filled and passionate. The speakers included homeowners from both Cleveland Heights and South Euclid who lived near Oakwood and some who lived further out. Their concerns included issues such as:
  • having enough greenspace for children and young families
  • maintaining amenities that will draw new residents and maintain the character of the cities,
  • improve the aesthetics of that part of the community
  • concern about the direct impact on quality of life and property values of houses closest to Oakwood
  •  general lack of greenspace in the area and driving distance to a large park,
  •  regional impact of more retail in the area (a new project does not meet demand, but cannibalizes from other areas)
  • deleterious effect on local and small businesses, positive economic effects of greenspace
  • need to conserve land for watershed and other ecological reasons
  • concern for the long term viability of the community.

 

A recurrent theme was that we do not need more retail or housing in the area because of the large amount of vacant commercial and residential properties we already have in both cities, and the current close proximity of large amounts of retail. People said we need and developers to rebuild and reconfigure our older commercial areas.

 

Apologies for not including everything everyone said, if we left something out, it is not because it was not important; we can add more detail after we watch the televised version. For those with Time Warner, the meeting will be rebroadcast on channel 20 at 9a.m., 9p.m. and 2a.m. for the next two weeks. For those who do not have this provider, we will be posting the meeting in parts on YouTube in the next few days and will let you know when that is ready.
 
Thanks to all of you we are off to a great start!
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