matteusleus

The block club approved the design & zoning variance. Cooler heads prevailed last night & it was very cordial. Due to the developers and neighborhood leaders hosting numerous meetings regarding this project, I think everyone already knew how they were going to vote.

The Franklin Circle proposal is changing their procedures a little bit. Instead of applying for a variance from the zone of boarding appeals, they will put their proposal in front of city council and ask for a temporary rezoning of the parcels to allow for their development. My understanding of this has two points: 1. since city council is an elected body, everyone in Cleveland will now have an opportunity to voice support/concern; 2. they probably felt they would not have received the block club's support for the zoning appeal/variance request. They are asking for a temporary rezoning in case this particular project never comes to fruition - at that point it would revert back to original zoning. In theory I like the move going to an elected body to make the decision but as well all know on this board, city council has its issues too. It tough to build urban development Cleveland! Where does that rezoning proposal stand? http://www.ohiocity.org/sites/default/files/Ohio_City_Changes-4-6-16.pdf

Punching Franklin Cir through to Dexter for pedestrian only access is a fantastic idea. It will provide a natural, efficient flow for people walking from W25th/Franklin, Fulton, & W28th on the southside of Franklin to the retail area on W29th. It will better incorporate Dexter as a street opposed to a long driveway for this apt building & it will further rejuvenate Franklin Cir. Love the idea!!

haha well I still don't know how & unfortunately I cannot find the drawing tool either... Just sent you PM

Casto-Dexter (Dimit Architects): 100 unit luxury apartment complex [/member] W28th & Franklin Cir. It will be presented before the Franklin Clinton block club next week. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to post pictures - it has a very large presence w/ huge windows. It looks nicely done with underground & structured parking - from what I can tell, the parking + units all fit in the same profile w/ apts stacked over parking. I have a feeling this will get major pushback from the neighborhood but we'll see. Its has studios, 1BR, 2BR, and 3BR apts.

Good ideas on the emails to Cuyahoga Council. I sent my displeasure with their decision re: Church & State as well... :-) included [email protected]; cc: [email protected] (President); [email protected]; [email protected] (ward rep) Michael - as a home owner and long time resident in Ohio City (currently reside in [address given in Hingetown]), Church & State is EXACTLY the type of development that needs to occur in Ohio City. The biggest issue we have in Ohio City is safety (not parking) and this is the type of density that is desperately needed to put a lot more eyes and ears on the streets. Lack of safety is what will bring down the neighborhood... not parking or anything else. Cleveland is not in a state of hyper gentrification & Ohio City is nowhere close to being built out. Excluding people to live in a rising neighborhood due to parking concerns is how our precarious progress will stop & we'll continue to be a borderline major city facing more decline. This is one of many like projects that should be built on major thoroughfares like Detroit Ave - it is served by existing public transportation and does not disrupt the fabric of the neighborhood that we all love so much. Public transit is the answer to parking concerns - not creating an enclave for existing residents by preventing more development. We're playing in the minor leagues right now and with the actions of Cuyahoga Council, I fear that other development projects will go elsewhere as it will be too risky to deal with county & city politics like has been for generations now. We will continue to be a borderline major city, or worse, if council does not start thinking bigger. How about encouraging this type of construction & many more projects like it that actually add to the tax rolls. With many more project like Church & State, you'll have all the funding & support needed to beef up public transit to a point where you can plan for growth and not just take reactionary measures of creating more cutbacks. Respectfully yours,

Within reason, keeping pace with traffic all around you is the safest speed regardless of the speed limit. By driving only the speed limit when everyone around you is going 10 mph over, or faster, it is much less safe to be driving the speed limit assuming you are in either the passing or middle lane. My assumption is people that would use this auto pilot function will generally be slow to change lanes and will likely camp out in the middle or passing lanes. Now if their cars were limited to the speed limit, this would create an unsafe situation. Then what happens when 95% of the cars on the road are self-driving cars? They are all keeping pace with eachother. So if they are programmed to go 90 MPH on highways, all of the cars will be going 90 MPH and exceeding the speed limit by 20 MPH in Ohio. Also, I was taught in drivers ed that you are not allowed to exceed the speed limit in order to pass other cars. We cannot solve problems today that basically do not exist in any form - it's a waste of time. When 95% of the cars on the road are self driving, we'll have a different set of problems not even thought of yet. If I play this game of future world development, a software update would just take care of this problem. Its just as easy to find theoretical solutions to theoretical problems.

Within reason, keeping pace with traffic all around you is the safest speed regardless of the speed limit. By driving only the speed limit when everyone around you is going 10 mph over, or faster, it is much less safe to be driving the speed limit assuming you are in either the passing or middle lane. My assumption is people that would use this auto pilot function will generally be slow to change lanes and will likely camp out in the middle or passing lanes. Now if their cars were limited to the speed limit, this would create an unsafe situation.

I can attest to this vandalism as well which is why I don't think its rackets - I live on a busy road in Ohio City & within the last week my neighbor's front door glass was smashed but thankfully not shattered and a few days later a window pane on my storm door was smashed. A few weeks ago while standing in my dining room, I watched a man hop a fence and look into the car windows of every car in the small lot while I was on the phone with the police for a solid 5 minutes. I don't think he broke into any cars. Unfortunately this guy took off before the police arrived - so far its all been very petty but irritating nonetheless. In both instances there was no evidence was left behind for what was used to smash the glass. Most likely teenagers w/ school being out but this is why I continually call on the fact that more density is needed on the thoroughfares. Cannot stress that enough. I also wish there were more cops for foot /bike patrols but I think the density needs to come first as I somehow think that's more likely.

I helped my brother move into the Schofield during a Cavs game last Monday night - if you drove down east 9th that evening, chances are you saw us carrying a mattress, dressers, tv's etc. across the street from the 9 haha It is a beautiful building - nice large hallways, very nice appliances, flooring, countertops etc. I cannot believe this building will be fully operational within the next few months after being a complete eyesore since I started working downtown in 2007. Although they are still doing some significant work on a lot of apartments, its close! Such a great project.

UPS's main air hub, Worldport, uses @ Louisville Int'l Airport & the Fedex's main air hub, Superhub, uses @ Memphis Int'l Airport. The point is these companies heavily use airports & we should attract companies like them (not necessarily UPS & Fedex in particular - but maybe an offshoot regional center, or another company entirely) and offer Burke for their operation. Maybe they don't care its near CBD but its also right next to the port, railyards, highways & a large manufacturing base. We have Burke & and its an asset - our leaders who are paid to formulate ideas & attract business need to view this as an asset.

Completely agree w/ Cleburger. We have Burke - its not going away no matter how much everyone complains. We should be using it to our advantage by attracting the corporations that would need easy airport access for daily commutes or the quick/efficient distribution of products. A company such as Fedex or UPS main distribution terminals would be perfect - especially for the industrial distribution of goods as it plays off Cleveland's existing manufacturing base and nearby port. Even Amazon type distribution centers come to mind that heavily rely on UPS/Fedex terminals. We are a perfect city for a large industrial distribution center with the port, nearby airport, railyards, easy highway access. These companies could completely take over Burke and put it to good use. You could even build off existing health care and try to attract pharmaceutical manufacturers/distribution centers that make critical drugs that needs delivered asap but I'm just spitballing at this point. As is, Burke is so flat and disconnected anyway. You cannot even see the water unless you're standing like 5 feet away. Land is not exactly at a premium either - I don't know who you expect to come in and be able to build something sustainable on that land without cannibalizing another neighborhood - and I only say cannibalizing because Burke is so massive.

Not reported yet but there was a robbery at gun point yesterday right in Ohio City @ Carroll Ct. & W32nd... at 3:30 in the afternoon. The perpetrator stole the woman's purse & car as soon as she parked. This kind of crap is ridiculous - especially at that location in the middle of the afternoon! The city needs to hire more policemen for foot patrols before we build any more stadiums, bridges to the rock halls, and any other large tax payer funded project that does not have a clear ROI to bring in more residents & density. As much as I like those developments, they mean nothing if the residents are not protected. At the block club level, there also must be a concerted effort to increase densities in these neighborhoods - time for the block clubs to wake up and allow as much density as possible to increase safety.

From the article: Public Works Director Michael Dever said the exterior of the Justice Center is sound, but the interior needs major upgrades. "Most of the systems in the building need to be replaced, from the electrical to the plumbing to the elevator system," he told council members Tuesday. "They have reached the end of their useful life." Sounds like its no longer functional as a JC but I am sure it could be redeveloped with some creativity. This reminds me of the Ameritrust Tower that was proposed to be torn down - I am glad that failed because the redevelopment of that into The 9 has turned out unbelievably good and a real asset for the city.

I concede that the JC is not an attractive building but it is a good example of brutalist architecture and although it is not en vogue now, I believe its worth preserving to give character to the skyline and city. It is interesting to walk down the street and see examples of buildings from different era's... this is what gives character to cities. The opposite of character can be said of the new generic Cuyahoga County building which looks like it could belong in a Beachwood office park. Until all the large swaths of vacant lots downtown are redeveloped, we should not tear down a building because nobody likes the style at the moment. As strong as the exterior structure appears to be, I would love to see this redeveloped as apartments, hotel, or whatever else would be the highest and best use. If the county needs a new JC, so be it and the area by the FBI building seems like a perfectly good spot.