November 5, 20213 yr Hard to say if the developer would win since Planning Commission needs to approve the townhome use in a two-family district, even if it meets every letter of the townhouse code.
November 5, 20213 yr 8 minutes ago, w28th said: Hard to say if the developer would win since Planning Commission needs to approve the townhome use in a two-family district, even if it meets every letter of the townhouse code. Could the court order the approval? "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 5, 20213 yr I am actually kind of confused as to what the issues on in court (this is of course an appeal of an administrative decision). It was represented that the original plan was approved by PC. They then said something about a disapproval by zoning but at today's meeting they kept emphasizing that the plan was totally to code so I don't know why they would be in front of zoning in the first place. I looked for the court docket but could not find it.
November 5, 20213 yr 9 minutes ago, Htsguy said: I am actually kind of confused as to what the issues on in court (this is of course an appeal of an administrative decision). It was represented that the original plan was approved by PC. They then said something about a disapproval by zoning but at today's meeting they kept emphasizing that the plan was totally to code so I don't know why they would be in front of zoning in the first place. I looked for the court docket but could not find it. I found it under 4705 Bridge Avenue LLC vs City of Cleveland. However, that 2019 case was shown to have been voluntarily dismissed. I spoke to someone close to the developer about the matter and he said the case was appealed to the court of appeals. Can a dismissed case be appealed?? If not, perhaps I wasn't looking at the right case. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 5, 20213 yr You are right, that case was voluntarily dismissed. It can’t be in the court of appeals unless it was refiled. It could’ve been re-filed in common pleas court and assigned a new case number but I don’t see that. Really confused. Also, I read the purpose of the appeal and was slightly confused about the procedure there as well.
November 7, 20213 yr Ohio City project’s rejection to be appealed By Ken Prendergast / November 6, 2021 Despite meeting the requirements of the city of Cleveland’s existing and proposed zoning code, a planned townhouse development for the Ohio City neighborhood was shot down by the City Planning Commission. It is the second time a townhouse project by the same developer at this location was rejected by the same panel. That 2019 rejection and subsequent appeal was the subject of a voluntarily withdrawn lawsuit by the developer Knez Homes whose lawyer Anthony Coyne angrily promised to resubmit it moments after the commission’s action Friday. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2021/11/06/ohio-city-projects-rejection-to-be-appealed/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 7, 20213 yr It’s totally unacceptable that this Planning Commission members can’t fulfill their obligation to sit through a bi-monthly meeting - and, as a result, delay the progress of the building of this city.
November 7, 20213 yr Two points. First, I am still a bit confused concerning the proposed litigation. A number of times during the meeting Tony Coyne referred to the 2019 common pleas appeal relating to the first development proposal and stated a couple of times that they would simply go forward with that litigation if this new modified proposal was rejected. That appeal in CP court had been voluntarily dismissed (in 2019) supposedly because the parties agreed to mediation which was apparently unsuccessful according to Coyne. In my mind that case cannot be re-filed because it is now time barred unless there is some tolling provision of which I am unaware since it went to mediation. Again, a number of times Coyne referred to that litigation (the 2019 case) saying they would just go forward with it if this new plan was not approved (a gentle threat it appeared to me since that plan was even more dense). Again, however, at this point there is no pending litigation so either Coyne was misinformed, was unintentionally mischaracterizing the situation (as again it is a bit confusing, especially the procedural basis of the appeal if you read the 2019 filings) or simply blowing smoke and fibbing (I don't think it was the later). According to Ken's article Knez now intends to litigate again. Where I am confused, given Coyne's representations before for the committee, is whether Knez is going to try to revive the 2019 litigation and try to get the old denser and even more unacceptable plan approved or whether they are just going to appeal Friday's rejection of the revised less dense plan. Second, I cannot believe the Planning Commission did not give Knez a break given all the money it has spent so far on a troubled piece of property. I know it is comparing apples and oranges but PC basically bent over and said "please sir I'd like some more" when it came to the Sherwin Williams review (again I understand why) but played the big bad wolf in this situation. While I am personally not crazy about the siting or design, PC has approved much worse in Ohio City over the years. Moreover Knez is not a small fry in the city so why piss them off. Again, I am not crazy about much of it's work but there is a clear civic mindedness to the company and it has taken on a number of projects on sites and in areas which most developers would not touch with a ten foot pole. Hasn't it earned at least a little of that Sherwin Williams deference? Edited November 7, 20213 yr by Htsguy
November 7, 20213 yr By the way, I forgot to mention in my above rant that it really galled me listening to Bowen justify his no vote. He was doing his best to impress upon us all that his negative vote was simply in the best interest of the city. This while he plots with Tony George at Irish Bend Park.
November 11, 20213 yr On 11/7/2021 at 12:36 AM, CleveFan said: It’s totally unacceptable that this Planning Commission members can’t fulfill their obligation to sit through a bi-monthly meeting - and, as a result, delay the progress of the building of this city. I somewhat agree but the planning agenda was over 500 pages long last session.
November 11, 20213 yr 51 minutes ago, mtnbikefan said: I somewhat agree but the planning agenda was over 500 pages long last session. It was a longer than normal agenda but they could have probably completed it if they went 5 hours (until 2 in the afternoon) rather than the standard 3 or 3 1/2 hours. The point being is do your job and take some time to review the agenda ahead of time and if you see it is going to be longer than normal do your best to make arrangements to clear your calendar so you can devote a couple of additional hours. This doesn't happen that often so it should not be that great a burden. I can understand one or two being unable to do this but I cannot understand why you lose a quorum in a situation like this. Maybe it was the responsibility of the chair and staff to take the bull by the horn, note the lengthy agenda and address this fact with commission members a week a so ahead of time deal with it. Not only does this failure to complete the agenda delay projects but it also inconvenienced project reps and presenters who made themselves available, probably sat through the other presentations to no avail and now have to make arrangements to come back to the commission. I am sure they have busy schedules just like the commission members who had to leave the meeting for some unexplained reasons. Edited November 11, 20213 yr by Htsguy
November 11, 20213 yr Of course, if we had a form-based zoning code citywide, many of these projects could be approved administratively rather than go to Planning Commission and/or BZA. Although that means adding more planning staff for a Planning Department that is understaffed now. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 18, 20213 yr Corner of 41st and Lorain coming along nicely in grOhio City. Edited November 18, 20213 yr by originaljbw Speeling
December 9, 20213 yr On 11/6/2021 at 10:08 PM, KJP said: Ohio City project’s rejection to be appealed By Ken Prendergast / November 6, 2021 Despite meeting the requirements of the city of Cleveland’s existing and proposed zoning code, a planned townhouse development for the Ohio City neighborhood was shot down by the City Planning Commission. It is the second time a townhouse project by the same developer at this location was rejected by the same panel. That 2019 rejection and subsequent appeal was the subject of a voluntarily withdrawn lawsuit by the developer Knez Homes whose lawyer Anthony Coyne angrily promised to resubmit it moments after the commission’s action Friday. MORE: https://neo-trans.blog/2021/11/06/ohio-city-projects-rejection-to-be-appealed/ The appeal is in: https://ca.permitcleveland.org/public/Cap/CapDetail.aspx?Module=BuildingHousing&TabName=BuildingHousing&capID1=21CAP&capID2=00000&capID3=00CPO&agencyCode=COC&IsToShowInspection=
December 23, 20213 yr Kan Zaman expands, Ohio City parking crater endures By Ken Prendergast / December 22, 2021 When people in Cleveland’s real estate sector heard Kan Zaman will open a new location on the east side of downtown, their immediate reaction was — are they vacating the old site in Ohio City for a new development? https://neo-trans.blog/2021/12/22/kan-zaman-expands-ohio-city-parking-crater-endures/ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 5, 20223 yr This story says the owners grew up in Shaker Heights? For aspiring artist Greg Robinson and entrepreneur Danielle Booker, Day & Night Cereal Bar is giving and getting more blessings https://clture.org/day-night-cereal-bar/
January 5, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, MuRrAy HiLL said: This story says the owners grew up in Shaker Heights? For aspiring artist Greg Robinson and entrepreneur Danielle Booker, Day & Night Cereal Bar is giving and getting more blessings https://clture.org/day-night-cereal-bar/ Good for them but I will never pay 8 dollars for a bowl of cereal.
January 5, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, MuRrAy HiLL said: This story says the owners grew up in Shaker Heights? For aspiring artist Greg Robinson and entrepreneur Danielle Booker, Day & Night Cereal Bar is giving and getting more blessings https://clture.org/day-night-cereal-bar/ The famed Shaker Heights neighborhood of Cleveland actually.
January 5, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, downtownjoe said: Good for them but I will never pay 8 dollars for a bowl of cereal. I looked at both the cost and actually what they put in it and I am not sure how it will survive to be honest. There are two of the bowls that literally just two or three kinds of cereal with nothing else and essentially all of their other bowls are just cereal with one or two basic additions. Maybe it's the milkshakes that get them the business.
January 5, 20223 yr 4 hours ago, MrR said: Looks like an ice cream shop A place like this opened in LA a few years ago. It was absurdly expensive and it didn’t last. However, I wish this place the best of luck.
January 6, 20223 yr 23 hours ago, jeremyck01 said: It was absurdly expensive and it didn’t last. I also looked at their menu online because I was curious and yeah the prices are pretty high. $8 for cereal bowls. I get they are specialty and fancy fixings with them. I'm all for trying them for sure but I don't know how much repeat business that can keep. I don't know if the area can handle that. But I really wish more unique places like this would open up and hope they're successful! I'll definitely grab a milkshake after they open.
January 6, 20223 yr ^I and many others pay baseball stadium prices for a hot dog at Happy Dog in part because of the weird toppings and polka music. Day & Night may find it’s niche. Paying homage to Kid Cudi is probably enough to get me in the door.
January 7, 20223 yr On 1/4/2022 at 11:10 PM, jeremyck01 said: A place like this opened in LA a few years ago. It was absurdly expensive and it didn’t last. However, I wish this place the best of luck. Black-owned and Cleveland roots... I love everything Sam does for this neighborhood but he may be off the mark here.
January 7, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, BJBaes said: Black-owned and Cleveland roots... I love everything Sam does for this neighborhood but he may be off the mark here. MRN's deal develop his "wildlife preservation" along the rapid tracts really got under his skin. These guys are collateral damage to that petty spat.
January 20, 20223 yr Shore Society is staying long term in Hingetown: 2909 Detroit Ave https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=324156716386156&id=100063754892137&set=a.320476203420874&source=48
January 21, 20223 yr "The status of the Lorain Avenue project was less clear Friday. The goal of the project is to create sidewalk-level bike lanes separated from traffic for two miles on Lorain Avenue from West 20th to West 65th Street. The city approved a design for the project in 2015, although bike advocates and planners grew concerned last year that the Jackson administration was watering down the design. Tom McNair, executive director of nonprofit Ohio City Inc., the neighborhood’s community development corporation, said he’s hopeful that the Bibb administration will follow through on the original aspirations. The NOACA grant announced Friday adds $3.2 million to the $7.6 million the agency has already allocated to the project. The full cost, according to NOACA, is $22.8 million. It was unclear Friday how additional money has been appropriated to the project by the city and other sources. McNair said he believes total funding for the project has reached $15 million so far. “It’s time to figure out where to get the rest of the money,’’ he said. “NOACA has clearly played their part.”" https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/01/noaca-announces-448m-in-grants-including-a-big-boost-for-clevelands-midway-and-lorain-avenue-cycle-track.html More money is good news. At ~15 million of the ~23 million needed.
January 21, 20223 yr Just build the bike lanes at street level and use the extra money on 3 other projects. Sidewalk level lanes are unnecessary and expensive. This project could have been done years ago cheaper and just as effective for cyclists.
January 22, 20223 yr ^^^^ This exactly!! We seem to overcomplicate bike lanes, and then never build them. Street level protected bike lane would be wonderful here, and much less expensive
January 22, 20223 yr While on this topic I saw the Cle.com article referring to the superior and Lorain bike lane projects. Does anyone know why Lorain Ave is the candidate instead of detroit? Detroit feeds directly into public square and would seamlessly connect to the superior Ave lanes. This would give us bike lanes from w65 to e55. Maybe I’m missing something. Also the red line green way overlaps a lot with Lorain Ave in the proposed area.
January 22, 20223 yr 2 hours ago, Clefan14 said: While on this topic I saw the Cle.com article referring to the superior and Lorain bike lane projects. Does anyone know why Lorain Ave is the candidate instead of detroit? Detroit feeds directly into public square and would seamlessly connect to the superior Ave lanes. This would give us bike lanes from w65 to e55. Maybe I’m missing something. Also the red line green way overlaps a lot with Lorain Ave in the proposed area. Detroit Ave already has bike lanes, unprotected. Extending accessibility and pedestrian friendliness to Lorain Ave is crucial to extending the rehabilitation west and south of Ohio City/Detroit Shoreway.
January 22, 20223 yr Adding bike lanes on Lorain and Detroit is all well and good but a bike lane on Superior is what excites me. The first two streets are relatively narrow so, sure we can squeeze them in and that's fine but Superior... Superior is wide enough for car lanes, bike lanes and TREES. We can put bike lanes in the center flanked but large trees and additional streetscaping. If done right we get the best of both worlds. Bike lanes and beauty. Best of all it's not even that expensive so for once money shouldn't be a deal breaker. So let's get it started!
January 24, 20223 yr Has anyone heard what the business owners think of the bike lanes on Lorain? Lorain, unlike a lot of places, generally does not have parking lots behind the commercial buildings.
January 24, 20223 yr 25 minutes ago, Whipjacka said: I cant totally remember, but i don't think it takes away any street parking In all the current options, Lorain Ave loses some parking as it's being turned into a one lane road both ways but parking will still be provided in certain locations on the north side. "Lorain Avenue will be reduced to a single lane in each direction with left turn lanes provided at signalized intersections and parking provided along the north side of the street as available. " https://www.livingloraincycling.com/cycling-options
January 25, 20223 yr 18 hours ago, downtownjoe said: In all the current options, Lorain Ave loses some parking as it's being turned into a one lane road both ways but parking will still be provided in certain locations on the north side. "Lorain Avenue will be reduced to a single lane in each direction with left turn lanes provided at signalized intersections and parking provided along the north side of the street as available. " https://www.livingloraincycling.com/cycling-options It sounds like it essentially is the same plan as East 105th street's rehab project. We lost one lane over here, turning the other lane into either street parking or a bike lane, depending on the area. Not really a fan of the layout tbh, the street parking by Glenvillage doesn't extend far enough and leaves some cars exposed to the road. I wish they could have both, hopefully this is a better implementation.
February 10, 20223 yr Was checking up on the Hingetown huts project this morning. Gonna be a pretty cool set up. Graham mentioned that he has an out of town investor that wants to lease all of them. Was vague on details of potential tenants.
February 11, 20223 yr That little complex is really different. What I can't figure out is it good different or bad different?
February 11, 20223 yr 3 hours ago, marty15 said: Was checking up on the Hingetown huts project this morning. Gonna be a pretty cool set up. Graham mentioned that he has an out of town investor that wants to lease all of them. Was vague on details of potential tenants. im trying to figure out what a single individual / entity would want all of them for
February 11, 20223 yr I'm still thoroughly confused by this whole project lol. It just seems like a waste of space. Like I get building them is really cheap but seems like there is a lot of wasted space on a prime location lot in hingetown. You would think a larger development with more sqft. would have been more economical. Guess that's why I'm not a developer lol.
February 11, 20223 yr Doug Katz’ Amba is shaping up. It’s a really large space. Edited February 11, 20223 yr by marty15
February 11, 20223 yr 1 hour ago, marty15 said: Doug Katz’ Amba is shaping up. It’s a really large space. Where is this?
February 11, 20223 yr aren't they suppose to change the front façade of the building to large glass windows for this one? I remember reading something about that a while ago when this was first announced.
February 12, 20223 yr On 2/10/2022 at 10:03 PM, dwolfi01 said: I'm still thoroughly confused by this whole project lol. It just seems like a waste of space. Like I get building them is really cheap but seems like there is a lot of wasted space on a prime location lot in hingetown. You would think a larger development with more sqft. would have been more economical. Guess that's why I'm not a developer lol. My betting is that these "long houses" qualify for faster depreciation and they'll be gone in 10 years. Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
February 12, 20223 yr What's with all this unhappy judgement over the huts? They aren't ugly or wasteful, but do have a quirky fun style of their own. Sorry they aren't a glass and concrete cube, but rather they are distinctive, unique and cool. We've got nothing like them where I live in DC, and there's nothing like them in most places I've seen. The layout looks inviting to pedestrians and has a great scale and texture that relates well to the sidewalk. As for me: 👍👍👍👍👍 Edited February 12, 20223 yr by ExPatClevGuy spelling
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