Williams Pledges Action On Long Neglected Downtown Cleveland Building; New City Manager Aims To Revive City Core

  • Tuesday, November 15, 2016
  • Gail Perry

The owner of a downtown Cleveland building that has been in violation of city codes for a long time addressed the Cleveland City Council on Monday about bringing it into compliance with the city’s requirements. The building at 80 Church St. was built around the turn of the century, said owner Joe V. Williams, and it has old age problems. He said contributing factors for the delays in making repairs were problems of finding a suitable contractor and because he has not been able to decide whether to use some of the space as apartments.

He said he also hopes to get a historic district designation to obtain tax credits.

 

Jonathan Jobe, director of engineering services, said that the city will determine a reasonable time-line for completing the repairs once the plan is given to the city. Because it has been in violation for such a long time, the city wants a plan quickly. The proposal and plan for a permit will be ready by the first council meeting in December, Mr. Williams told the council. Councilman Richard Banks suggested sending Mr. Williams a letter with a reminder of the dates he agreed to.

 

That agreement will be the first step of working on making improvements to downtown, said City Manager Joe Fivas, who then gave the council a reminder of how he will implement his strategic plan for downtown Cleveland and the rest of the city.

 

He said that to get “action points” he has held meetings with residents to get their input and provide direction, and that he will make a presentation with the results of the meetings at the next council meeting. Mr. Fivas wants to create a three-year comprehensive plan. Five more community meetings will be held - one for each district - where participants will be asked to fill out community surveys. Results of the surveys will be tabulated by May 2017. He said he would like to finalize the three-year plan by July.

 

Parking was mentioned as a priority for downtown improvements by Vice Mayor Avery Johnson and Councilman David May. Mr. Fivas responded that he has already spoken to the dry cleaning business next door to the museum center. Councilman May suggested purchasing a building at Church and 3rd Street as a possibility for more parking.  

 

Mr. Fivas also told the council that a burn ban is in effect in Cleveland.

 

A career showcase for prospective fire department employees will be held.

 

Work on the Blythe Playground is being expedited, said the city manager.

 

The owners of 3811 Woodcrest purchased the house with a fence which was already in place. It was later that they found the fence is on city-owned land. City Attorney John Kimball said that the fence does not inhibit access into Tinsley Park. He proposed that the council allow the fence to remain even though the land under the fence belongs to the city. He has drawn up a draft easement and suggested that the city get the owner of the house to sign it. According to the agreement, the owners must take the fence down if the city ever asks to have it removed.

 

Final passage was given to rezone 4.81 acres along Peach Orchard Hill Road NE, from GC general commercial to R2 low-density single and multi-family zone. Property at 601 and 607 20th St. SE was rezoned from 1H heavy industrial to R2. Permitted uses and amended development standards were accepted within the area currently zoned PUD1 located on Paul Huff Parkway and Mohawk Drive. Another rezoning was approved which changed 7.5 acres located at Freewill Road and 22nd. Street. NW. This property changed from incorporated county to R1 single family residential zone.  An unincorporated 19.9 acres at Tasso Lane and North Lee Highway was zoned to R2.

 

Mayor Tom Rowland was authorized to sign a grant contract with TDOT concerning multimodal transportation planning. The council voted to accept Kings Cove Court as a city street. The mayor was also authorized to sign an agreement with United Way regarding the TVA Extreme Energy Makeover project. Four light fixtures were approved for replacement with new LED fixtures on 21st Street near Georgetown Road. Vehicles from various city departments were declared surplus property and will be sold on Govdeals.com.

 

The addition of two poles and street lights at 174 Sheeler St. SE were approved and another at Reuben Drive NW and Moore Place NW. The city will try to trim tree branches in order to allow for the new street lights, but if more extensive work is needed, Asplundh Tree Company will perform the work.

 

 

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