Monday, January 30, 2006

The Cleveland Colectivo Considers Community Grant Requests

Clevelanders coming together to strengthen our community through collective investments that identify and nurture innovative projects.

Last Wednesday, a group of area residents that make up the Cleveland Colectivo, began to sift through nearly 50 requests for funding. (Pictures from the meeting.) These request ranged from environmental to arts to community building. At this meeting, the Colectivo cut the selection to 12 finalist and over the next week or so they will pick the final selections and the amount they will be awarded. Good luck to everyone.

What is the Cleveland Colectivo, you ask. The words from the website are much better then what I could come up with, so:
In the fall of 2004 a small circle of people decided it was time to stop talking about Cleveland’s problems and start investing in solutions. They gathered together friends and neighbors to begin building a new giving circle and The Cleveland Colectivo was born. Inspired by the traditional practice of immigrant neighbors who invested in each other’s businesses in order to build community, the Cleveland Colectivo is a group of like-minded friends, neighbors, and colleagues who have joined together for the purpose of collective giving.
If you want more information, or would like to join, visit the site - here.


Now for something completely different, these nearly life-size, bubble wrapped dogs will soon be the throughout the St. Clair - Superior Neighborhood sporting, I imagine, some funky colors. They will be given to local artists to paint, or whatever, and placed in various places in the neighborhood in recognition of, in part, the Chinese Lunar New Year which happens to be the Year of the Dog.



Finally, my post will be slowing down somewhat over the next three months due to heavy reading this semester in school. I will still post the happenings of the Planning Commission after their meetings - so stay tuned.


Friday, January 20, 2006

No Planning Commission Report Today

The little ones are home from school today and they get bored easily when I take them to a meeting. Hell, even I get bored.
Instead, I want to bring you up to speed on the workings of the Commission; that is, what is their mandate and how much control do they really have. I would like to eventually fill everyone in on who the members are, what do they do in real life, how long have they been on the commission and other bits of useful information I think everyone should know. This will be an ongoing project, so here is the first part.
The Planning Commission's website states on their on home page:
The City Planning Commission, established in 1915 (as the "City Plan Commission"), is a body of seven members, six are appointed by the Mayor and one is a member of City Council. The Commission is supported by a staff of professional planners and architects. The City Charter gives the Commission responsibility for preparing plans to guide "development and improvement" of the City and its neighborhoods, and for reviewing all legislation and other matters that concern the "use or development of land.”

Chapter 11 of the City Charter

§ 76 City Planning Commission

There shall be a City Planning Commission composed of seven (7) members. One shall be a member of the Council of the City of Cleveland chosen by each Council to serve during the term of such Council, and six members shall be appointed by the Mayor, with the approval of Council, and may be removed by him. The term of the members, other than Council members, shall be six (6) years, except that of the initial appointments, the terms of two members shall be two (2) years, and the terms of two members shall be four (4) years. Vacancies in the Commission shall be filled in the same manner for the unexpired term. The Chairman of the Commission shall be appointed annually by the Mayor from the members and may be removed as Chairman at his pleasure.
(Effective November 21, 1967)

§ 76-1 Directors and Staff

There shall be a Planning Director who shall be nominated by the Commission and appointed by the Mayor at his discretion. He shall be ex-officio Secretary of the City Planning Commission and shall serve until removed by the Mayor with the concurrence of a majority of the Commission. Upon nomination of the Planning Director the Commission shall appoint as its staff such technical and office personnel and assistants as it may deem necessary within the appropriation made available for such purpose. All such appointments, except the Planning Director and his secretary, shall be made in conformity with the civil service provisions of this Charter. Under the direction of the Commission the Director shall supervise and control the planning staff.
(Effective November 3, 1942)

§ 76-2 Powers and Duties of Commission

It shall be the function and duty of the Planning Commission to make and adopt a general plan for the development and improvement of the City, and for any area outside of the City which in the judgment of the Commission bears relation to the planning of the City. No general plan or portions thereof or amendments thereto shall be adopted by the Commission until after a public hearing thereon. So much of the general plan as may be established or from time to time amended by ordinance of Council shall constitute the official map of the City of Cleveland. The Commission shall also make plans and proposals for specific improvements and projects which it deems desirable for the City and its surrounding area and recommend them to the appropriate authority. These plans and proposals shall not become a part of the general plan until adopted as such. The Commission shall have authority to call upon officers and employees of other departments and divisions of the City of Cleveland for assistance in City planning. On or before the 1st day of June in each year the Commission shall recommend to the Mayor a capital improvement budget for the following year and a comprehensive five-year capital improvement program. It shall be the duty of the Commission to take the initiative in planning for the City and surrounding area and it shall have full power to publish and distribute at public expense copies of plans or reports and to promote public interest in and understanding of general plans and of other recommendations or proposals. It shall have authority to make such investigations, maps and studies relating to the planning of the community as it may deem desirable. The Planning Commission may recommend to the appropriate public authorities or private agencies programs for the development and improvement of the community, for the enactment of legislation pertaining thereto, for the building of public structures and improvements and for the financing thereof. The Commission may enter into agreement with other governmental or private agencies necessary or desirable for carrying forward any of its purposes subject to the approval of Council.
(Effective November 3, 1942)

The members consist of :

Anthony J. Coyne, Chairman
Attorney, Mansour, Gavin, Gerlack & Manos Tony specializes in municipal planning and zoning law and general litigation. He is a housing and neighborhood activist as well as a board member of the Near West Housing Corporation. He is credited with providing a professional services link to the Ohio City neighborhood group that provides housing for low and moderate-income families. In 1989, Tony served on Mayor Michael White's "Transition '90" team and was subsequently appointed to the Cleveland Planning Commission. Tony's membership in professional and public service organization include the Cleveland Bicentennial Commission Advisory Board, the Citizens League of Greater Cleveland, the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Planning Conference, and the Cleveland Planning Commission. (From Maxine Goodman-Levin College of Urban Affairs)

David H. Bowen
Architect, Richard L. Bowen + Associates
Lillian Kuri
Former Executive Director, Cleveland Public Art
Lawrence A. Lumpkin
Former School Board President, Cleveland Public School District
Gloria Jean Pinkney

City of Cleveland Councilman, Ward 13, Joe Cimperman

Rev. Sam E. Small

Secretery, Robert N. Brown (Current Planning Director)

Thursday, January 19, 2006

What You Missed at the Webloggers Meetup on Wednesday

Last night, the Cleveland Webloggers met once again at the Town Fryer on St. Clair Avenue. There are some good events coming up and I learned a few things too.

First, if you are an attention freak and you want people to read what you have to say, just mention Tim Russo's name (we will see what happens).

Next, if you are looking for more attention, then comment about something from The Washington Post, like this article, which brings up the ongoing problem of people believing their cell phone numbers will soon be made available to telemarketers. In case you are one of those people, it is illegal for telemarketers to make unsolicited calls to a cell phone. Somebody at school was just expressing his concern to me over this afternoon. (If you are still worried, go here.)

The big question of the night was when, if ever, Lori was going to post again. Apparently, she has been busy making college student's financial situation worse buy single-handedly raising the cost of textbooks around the world.

Among the 20 or so people there, was Stu Kollar whose new blog, Writeup, may be one of the only admittedly ‘fictional’ blogs around.
From his description:

“Writeup contains some of my fiction, a little of which has been published but most of which has not. It gives me an easy way to offer a look at stuff I've written over the years, including a few short stories and opening chapters of longer pieces. Anyone interested in seeing more can get it by posting an e-mail request.”
Check it out.

Will Kessel asked how many blogs in the sphere are fictional and somebody from the back yelled “All of them!” I think it was Jeff Hess.

Get The Book!

Politry 2005

Since my mother doesn’t have a computer, I compiled Politry for 2005 in a chapbook: 2005, a Bad Year Made Verse, – 317 “poems,” mostly about stuff Bush bungled – a chronicle of a crummy year or a great gag gift for a conservative friend. 132 pages, saddle stitched, $9.50, including postage.

Also present were Roger Bundy from Cleveland Equanimous Philosopher, Jack, Gloria and Ken Duncan who was a little taken aback at the prospect of peddling his book, Politry for 2005: A Bad Year Made Verse. You can pick yours up by sending an email to book@politry.com.

Reader, (as opposed to writer) Mary Ellen from the Cleveland Public Library was there and wanted to let everyone know about the possibility of holding a Cleveland Webloggers event in the Eastman Garden during iNGENUiTY this summer – strictly for fertilization purposes, of course.

Wrapping up the attendance were Danielle, George, Peter, Molly, Mary Beth and Pho, who promises to have a joint Akron/Cleveland Webloggers Meetup soon. There were others present, but I either did not actually talk with them, I could not write fast enough or they left before we finally got around to the traditional introductions.

As for the actual meeting portion, Danielle talked about the upcoming Meet the Bloggers Fundraiser at the Pearl of the Orient restaurant next Thursday. You can read more about this here… or at Plugged In Cleveland. If you are not sure whether or not you want to go this event, word has it George will have on his kilt… something about not having a female to assist him like the other celebrity bartenders. The discussion then went into how to expand the Meet the Bloggers concept to individuals who touch the lives of ordinary people.

Overall, it was a very good meeting; however, that is subjective since this was the first time I came to a meeting from the beginning instead of showing up at the end. If I missed some of the details, tough. At least I stayed sober enough to take some notes

Saturday, January 14, 2006

A Comment on Urban Ohio's Forum: "Building 'Pesht' - Cleveland Megaproject"

As mentioned on the Cuyahoga County Weblog, Ken Prendergast has just completed his three part series on developer Bob Stark's vision for downtown Cleveland in the Sun News.
From the County Weblog
The West Side Sun News concludes its three-part series on developer Robert Stark's downtown Cleveland plans with a look at ideas for accelerating the Port Authority's proposed relocation across the Cuyahoga River from the 50 year concept in the City's Lakefront Plan.
If you have not read the articles, do it now. Or, go to the forum instead. You can get some good backround information provided by Ken as well as some interesting opinions by many others. Currently, there is a discussion on what the new neighborhood north of the Warehouse District should be called. What would you call it?






Thursday, January 12, 2006

Cleveland's Own Modern Day Ghost Town

As I previously reported , the movers are busy removing the last of the residents out of the Jefferson Neighborhood so they can start on demolition later this month for the Ryser Properties shopping center. I drove around yesterday to take pictures of the current condidtions. What follows are three out of the twenty five I took.
If you would like to see the whole set, including the original color shots, go here.




Monday, January 09, 2006

Cleveland Planning Commision Report - Friday, January 6, 2006

This sucks, I had to completely retype this post because I am an idiot.

I wish I had thought of this sooner – for now on, when reporting the happenings from the Planning Commission Meeting, I will include a rooster of attendees. After attending these meetings for the better part of three years, I have noticed there are many times when certain members are not there; that is, there are at least two members who are rarely there. Seeing as this is a compensated position, which includes parking, you would think that most of the members would be there a majority of the time. I have a problem with this. At a later posting, after doing some research, I will describe the details of how a member is appointed and what the expectations are to be of them, as well as there compensation.
On with the meeting

Mandatory Referrals (All Approved)
  1. An amendment to a previously passed ordinance regarding zoning of parcels on the west side of West 117th Street between Western Avenue and I-90
  2. Issuing a permit to allow Medical Mutual to install planter boxes, Planting beds and other streetscape obstructions
  3. Allowing Green Energy Ohio to lease space on the Kirtland Intake Crib for the purpose of conducting a wind study and maintaining a wind-monitoring tower for a two-year period. The city of Cleveland will receive the equipment after the two year study
  4. Determining the construction and installation of manually controlled pumps and equipment at the Nottingham Plant
  5. Authorizing the sale of property from the Land Reutilization Program to the Cleveland Public School District at East 146th and 147th Streets
  6. Demolition of the Trinity Building at 9203 Detroit Avenue, including asbestos abatement and remediation of the soil and groundwater at the site (This will the first major addition to the city’s Industrial Landbank Program in almost a year).
  7. [Added to the agenda] Rename a portion of Erieside Street behind the Great Lakes Science Center to Mather Way (pictured - lower half of image, source Google.)
Summary Calendar (all approved)
  1. Authorizing the sale of property on Marvin Avenue to Civic Builders as part of the Land Reutilization Program
  2. Authorizing the sale of city-owned property in Wade Park on East Boulevard to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs
  3. An addendum to a previously passed ordinance relating to the reconstruction of Jennings road (which, incidentally, began today)
  4. An amendment to a previously passed ordinance relating to the widening of West 150th street between Industrial Parkway and Brookpark Road
  5. Vacate a portion of Holmden Road (this will be used as a staging area for construction of Steel Yard Commons and Quigley Road)
Design Review
  1. Ohio & Erie Canal Signage Program, Conceptual Review – The signs (conceptual renderings pictured) designed by Cloud Gehshan Associates, will replace the fading signs that currently exist throughout the corridor. The Ohio & Erie National Canalway name will be changed to the Ohio & Erie Canalway. This falls within new guidelines created by the Feds who are changing all references to “Scenic Byway” to America’s Byway.” Apparently, many travelers are confused by the ‘scenic’ designation when driving through urban areas like the area near the Main Post Office. This was approved with a recommendation to add the website address to the bottom of the signs.
  2. Demolition and Parking Lot Design of the former Saint John’s Dormitory (1964) at 1100 Rockwell Avenue
Special Presentation – Little Italy Master Plan
The PD article by Tom Breckenridge does a much better job then I ever could describing the nuances of the plan. The Little Italy Master Plan, although not the first neighborhood plan to be brought before the commission, is diffidently the most comprehensive neighborhood plan ever brought to the board for approval. The plan was approved with the highest of commendation.

Directors Report
Director Bob Brown happily stated that he was sworn in as Mayor Jackson’ Director of the Planning Commission Monday, January 2.
He mentioned there was a good possibility that the planning functions of the city’s Neighborhood Development Department may be merged with the Planning Commission. A move I am surprised has not happened sooner.
Mentioned that ODOT’s perceived gesture of goodwill by having national experts look at the southern alignment option of the Innerbelt Plan was not as it seemed. Apparently, these experts would have had to make a recommendation on the plan anyway. Regardless, I hope they give it a fair look.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

Nearly $18 Million Spent on Avoiding Eminent Domain for Ryser Project

File under public disclosure.

My wife likes to read the real estate section of the PD on Saturdays. This way she can keep up on housing values in the neighborhood. In this past Saturday's issue, she noticed something peculiar – dozens of house all on the same street had been transferred from one property owner to another. Then she noticed it was ore then one street – in fact, there were five streets with no less then 65 properties listed. (Over 100 properties were purchased.)

The total amount paid for the properties listed is around $12,875,882. In total, Ryser Properties is said to have paid almost $18 million for all of the properties. This was done with help of a loan of $6 million from the city, which Target will pay back to the city with taxes generated.

I figured out right away the listings being shown were the parcels being used for the new Ryser Properties shopping center featuring a Giant Eagle and Target store on West 117th Street, north of I-90. I’ve driven around this neighborhood a few times over the past couple of months. It is very strange seeing all of the houses boarded up throughout the area - a modern day ghost town, if you will. Most of the tenants are to be moved out by the end of this month and demolition is to begin right away. Target plans to be opened by October of this year (2006). (There is no mention of this project on Ryser's website.)

From the listing in the paper and with help from county auditor information, it appears Target has paid the most for a piece of property. That would be the parcel located 11826 Elmwood Avenue that was purchased for $2,119,022. Not bad for a 5,000 sq ft property that sold for $33,000 in 1983. That’s over $423 a square foot.

The top five are listed as follows:

11826 Elmwood Avenue - $2,119,022;
3105 West 121st Street - $1,000,000;
11916 Elmwood Avenue – $400,000;
11839 Sector Avenue - $305,000; and
11933 Sector Avenue - $225,000.

The bottom five include:

12024 Sector Avenue - $35,000;
11810 Belmont Avenue - $45,000;
12012 Sector Avenue - $55,000;
12004 Sector Avenue - $80,000; and
3106 West 120th street - $80,000.

Keep in mind, the developers paid an additional 30% over market value to the owners so there would not be any use of eminent domain. Just goes to show, everyone has their price – some more then others... and some les.