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Transcript and summary of Oakwood Public Hearing May 25, 2011

posted Jun 10, 2011, 3:37 PM by CFO Info

Citizens for Oakwood provided this summary and transcript.

Summary of South Euclid

Public Hearing (May 25, 2011) on

Rezoning of Oakwood land

The Citizens for Oakwood organization commissioned a court reporter to make a transcript of the public hearing which took place in Council Chambers of South Euclid City Hall on Wednesday, May 25, 2011. This hearing was regarding a proposed ordinance to rezone the Oakwood land from residential (R-75) to commercial (C-2), in order to permit the construction of a shopping center called Oakwood Commons.

The attached table lists the names and addresses of all community residents who spoke at the hearing. The column titled “For OC?” indicates whether the resident appeared to be in favor (“yes”) of building Oakwood Commons, against (“no”) building it, or undecided or ambiguous (“?”). The final column is a few-word synopsis of one or two main points made by the resident.

In condensing a 114-page transcript to a 2-page table much, of course, is lost. But it is hoped that much is also gained by providing a global overview of residents’ attitudes toward Oakwood Commons and their primary concerns.

Many residents did not explicitly indicate whether they were “for” or “against”. Every effort has been made to be fair in the “yes/no/?” assignments, but some subjectivity is inevitable. We encourage readers to refer to the original transcript which is available here:  Oakwood Public Hearing. A copy of the transcript is also attached to the bottom of this post.
 
Here is a summary of the “yes/no/?” results:
City Yes(for Oakwood Commons) No(against Oakwood Commons) ?(ambiguous) Total
South Euclid 17 (31%) 27 (50%) 10 (19%) 54 (100%)
Cleveland Hts 1 (5%) 16 (80%) 3 (15%) 20 (100%)
Total 18 (24%) 43 (58%) 13 (18%) 74 (100%)

These results are similar to those reported online by Adam Horwitz in the May 26, 2011 Cleveland Heights Patch (see here).

Note that we have made no attempt to correct transcript errors in the spellings of names (of people and streets) in the attached summary table.
OC = Oakwood Commons

Name City ForOC? Comments
Joan Albro SE no Malls=slums
Alan Jones SE yes We need jobs
Christina Elswick SE no Green space important (submitted written document)
Janet Covitt SE no Don’t need more retail
Linda Green SE yes Taxes will go to Brush High, no plans to build big box
Ruth Kronick SE yes Mitch Schneider is a man of integrity
Marko Fikaris SE yes Mayor and Council have done their homework
Tula Dallas SE no Senior apartments instead of retail
Bob Fry SE ? Will revenue from OC be positive?
Marty Gelfand SE yes Walk to green OC
Steven Pressman SE no Keep as recreational venue
Michael Kline SE no Keep as environmental resource
Laura Luxenberg SE no OC = detriment to quality of life
Bill Scheumann SE no Don’t need more retail
Carol Sisson SE yes Spend money in SE, want little bit of Legacy Village in SE
Barb Holtz SE yes US Constitution says land can be developed, retail is better than residential
Fred Pearlman SE yes Do something to make money off the land
Michael Hahn SE no Make golf course & recreation area
Marie Rehmar SE ? Hope OC encourages pedestrians, but concerned about safety and cannibalizing other stores
James Moruna SE yes SE needs tax revenues
Kathy Schaefer SE no Big box will repel potential residents
Karen Mandel SE no Too much retail vacancy, need green space
Anna DiJulius SE no More damage than good
Joan Hampton SE no Don’t want OC, but put in upscale stores if it is built
Frances Burrows SE ? Build office condominiums
Avi Goldman SE yes We need jobs
Linda Pagon SE no No big box
Rosie George SE ? Another retailer will not help, land already sold so it’s a moot point
Alan Brucato SE no Don’t need more retail
Carter Welo SE yes Welcome development
Jack Nemecek SE yes Will be good for the city
Gary Bloom SE no Don’t need more retail, missing an opportunity
Edith Hicks SE no No big box
Rachelle Neher SE no Use land for recreation
Nancy FixlerSpitler SE no Don’t need more retail, need green space
Angela Shute SE no Rethink retail, consider senior housing
Sylvia Billups SE yes Not just big box
Diana Brown SE ? Did not comment
Robin Shell SE yes Sidewalks, sustainability, taxes
Carol Tizzano SE no Don’t need more retail, need green space
William McLaughlin SE ? Various suggestions
Rocco Dilillo SE yes Houses or retail only choice, trust First Interstate
Jerome Liptow SE no Let the people vote on rezoning
Marcella Soukup SE no We can do better than big box
Howard Senkfor SE no Development not good for SE
Dan Shraner SE no Don’t trust developer
Jane Kowall SE ? Build high quality, not big box
Horace Rice SE ? Build trauma center
Kevin Kay SE no Environmental and economic loss
Cathy Fromet SE ? Trust First Interstate but no thrilled with big box
Kathy Brunkala SE no Senior housing, not big box
Carlean Alford SE ? Need retail, but not junk
Kevin Fromet SE yes Need more tax revenue
Hank Drake (e-mail read by Councilman Romeo) SE yes Needs of majority outweigh needs of the few
Annarich Ruben CH no Senior housing, don’t rezone
Misty Siegel CH ? Described model city
Susan Miller CH no Tax will go to CH-Uh schools, OC will be big box, regionalism
Adele Eisner CH no Not enough specifics
Fran Mentch CH no OC is short-sighted, develop Cedar Center
Rick Sones CH no Compare OC to Hawthorne Village (submitted written document)
Ann Gecowets CH no Jobs stolen from elsewhere, environmental harm
David Furry CH no Put it up to a vote
Sue Janssen CH no Don’t need more retail, need green space
Jan Snellman CH no Need green space, drainage, regionalism
Olivia Geaghan CH yes Ikea or Trader Joe’s as anchor, plus local restaurants
Steve Cagan CH no Need more specifics
? CH ? More specifics would be wonderful
Carla Rautenberg CH no Don’t need more retail, keep green space
Dr Robert Haas CH no Development is irreversible
Marcie Denton CH no Big box bad for community, regionalism
Mike Gaynier CH no OC is not best way to develop that land
Richard Wong CH ? Buffer between OC and houses needs to be larger (submitted written document)
Rickey Adorjan CH no Don’t destroy nature to make money
Jennifer Hillman CH no Central Park or a mall?
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CFO Info,
Jun 10, 2011, 3:45 PM
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