SO LONG SUMMER

I spend too many hours in front of a computer every day, working as an online legal analyst.
Because of that you are likely to spot me power-walking through my neighborhood in the middle of the day, almost every day.
Walking helps clear away the mental cobwebs and unstiffens my legs.

I always enjoy seeing what's going on in my neighborhood, and I have to say there are a couple of spots I always look forward to reaching.
One of them is along Radford Drive, near the intersection with Kenbridge.
The house has a tiny decorative bench in the front yard, near the sidewalk, that's always decked out for the season.

I expect to see a fall theme shortly, now that the kids are back in school and we're about to hit Labor Day.
But not yet. 
Here's this year's summer bench.
Hope you enjoy seeing it as much I do, every day, on my daily rounds!

POOL DECK: DISAPPOINTING DECISION.....ONCE AGAIN

I have to say as a lawyer I get very disappointed when courts appear to fall down on the job.
 Despite hopeful signs during oral argument, the 8th District Appeals Court ended up giving the City a pass on the massive Rutland Drive deck.

The court noted, and then blithely dismissed in a footnote, the significant flaws in the permitting process that led up to the after-the-fact issuance of a permit for the deck.
It also shrugged its shoulders at the fact that the owners ended up erecting a deck 74% larger than the one actually permitted by the City.... even though city ordinances make doing that a punishable offense (a misdemeanor carrying a $500 a day fine).
No matter.
Essentially the court's message was:

The City didn't follow or enforce its own permitting rules and regulations?
No problem!
Since the permit wasn't rescinded...everything's Jake.
Right?

No, not all right.
It is absolutely stunning to me that a court would think it's okay for a City not to obey it's own laws....and put its stamp of approval on such conduct.
Essentially residents have been given permission to do whatever they want....

As long as they have enough political clout with the Mayor and the Law Director to get away with it.

Once again, enforcing City code is left to the intrepid neighbors.
Hopefully the Ohio Supreme Court will be willing to right the many wrongs in this case.
As always, I'll keep you posted.

DOES THE CITY EVER ENFORCE ITS ORDINANCES?

SETTING: Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, downtown Cleveland, Wednesday July 6, 2016.
WHAT: Oral argument in the Neighbors’ appeal, challenging the retroactively-permitted, gigantic Rutland Drive deck placed11 feet from a rear property line.

IN ATTENDANCE: Several of the neighbors, the neighbors’ attorney, the deck owners’ attorney and Highland Heights Law Director Tim Paluf.

According to a neighbor in attendance, the judges were well prepared.
They had obviously read the submitted briefs and demonstrated good familiarity with the relevant facts.

As frequently happens during oral argument, the judges almost immediately interrupted the attorneys’ canned presentations and peppered them with questions, zeroing in on the crux of the case.

Quite telling, one judge’s kick-off question to Paluf:

Does the City ever enforce its ordinances?

Paluf responded:

Yes

He then stood there in silence.....

The Court of Appeals keeps its own timetable, but the neighbors think a ruling might issue sometime in the next couple of weeks.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed…..and you posted

HIGHLAND ROAD WATER MAIN REPLACEMENT A GO

On June 21^st Council discussed and approved Engineer Brian Mader’s recommendation to award a $3,327.958.00 Highland Road Water Main Replacement contract to Fabrizi Trucking & Paving Co., Inc.

The project involves installing a temporary by-pass line while the existing water main, which runs along the north side of Highland Road, is dug up and replaced.
According to Mader, the project will start late this year and extend through most of the next construction season:

It will have 5 phases: the western City line to Bishop Road, East of Bishop to Miner Road, East of Miner to the eastern City line, and the Bishop/Highland and Miner/Highland road intersections….

The order (of construction) just depends on how the contractor wants to approach the project.

Mayor Scott Coleman was pleased that the project was finally going forward.
He also complimented Mader on the accuracy of his construction estimate.
Mader had projected the cost as $3.4 million.
Coleman said:

We have been talking about this for at least 6 years and had 1 unsuccessful attempt at getting Issue 1 funding.
We are effectively getting 74% of the project financed by an interest free loan, which will cost us $85,000 a year, and the rest is a grant. 
Our pocket money up front amounts to a little over 25% of the entire cost…

I am excited to get it started although it will be alot of inconvenience to residents.

Some inconvenience, for sure, but the benefits will be great.

Homeowners along the north side of Highland Road will receive new driveway aprons as part of the project and Highland Heights residents in general will be spared the nightmare of a catastrophic failure, which would end up costing much more to fix.

HAPPY GARDENING TO ALL

This year’s warm weather has made a huge difference for this year’s Community Garden participants.

This is what my beginning garden looked like this year:

With all the warm weather---and also thanks to the generosity of the City, which provides water for the Community Garden---everything is growing like crazy.

Just to give you an example.
Last year I had to wait until mid-July to pick my first zucchini.

This year I’ve already resorted to making zucchini bread from the abundant crop I’ve picked so far.

It’s a good thing that I love broccoli....
I've got a couple of giant heads that should make for great eating, if the pesky groundhogs don't get there first.....

 

SUMMERTIME BEACH VIEW

Florida has some lovely neighborhood beaches.

The residents living near one of my favorites have gone out of their way to provide places for rest and enjoyment to all of the local inhabitants....

 Happy Summer, everyone!

GOODBYE MILL TAVERN, HELLO MEGA GAS STATION?

I didn’t arrive in time to attend the Committee of the Whole meeting held before last week’s Council meeting.

The first item on the agenda caught my attention” “True North Proposal”.

I don’t know the details, but one source told me that the discussion centered on a plan to transform the small 8 pump Shell gas station at the northwest corner of Bishop and Wilson Mills Roads into a large mega gas station.

Here we go again.....

 There are only two options for expansion, and my source indicated that the plan involved razing the small strip building fronting Wilson Mills.

Bye Bye Mill Tavern…McNulty Roofing, Biagio’s Deli, Zeppe’s Pizza and all the other businesses that operate out of that building.

So let's see.

We are supposed to get excited about a plan that involves throwing out a bunch of small local business employers and embrace a mega-gas station that most likely will be staffed by a bunch of part-time, minimum wage workers.
Who knows what the impact on the city's income tax revenue will be.

That’s economic development?

VOTERS WILL HAVE TO SAY YES

Although it currently operates as a gas station, the Shell/TrueNorth property is not actually zoned for gas station use.
It’s zoned as local business.

The 8 pumps are “grandfathered”—allowed to stay because they pre-existed the local business zoning.

Legally, grandfathered uses cannot be expanded.

That means the owners will have to put a zoning issue on the ballot, seeking voter-approval to change the zoning to Motor Service use.

Which is why, apparently, it was on the agenda.

The easiest way to get a zoning issue on the ballot is to get Council to agree to put it there.

Here we go again.

DEJA VUE

Does all this all sound familiar?

It should.

Think the mega GetGo gas station Giant Eagle tried to install on the southeast corner of  Brainard and Wilson Mills Roads a couple of years ago.

It’s the same deal.

And I have to wonder.
Developer Lance Osborne said at the time that Giant Eagle is extremely anxious to put a big GetGo gas station in this area.

Do you suppose Giant Eagle has a side deal with TrueNorth?

PROTEST ALONG WILSON MILLS

If you are wondering why you see police tape around the tall pine trees that front the residential lot immediately west of the Mill Tavern, and what’s up with the handmade sign addressed to East Ohio Gas...

I have the answer

The gas company is replacing gas lines along major roads in the area.
They completed work along Highland Road this spring.

Next up: Bishop/Brainard Road and Wilson Mills Road.

The company’s easement crosses the residential lot in question, and the property owners are obviously concerned that their trees will be lost.

WILD KINGDOM

The Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has gotten back on track after winning the lawsuit that challenged the new stormwater management fees that it imposed on its customers.

One thing on their list: cleaning out the large water detention basin north of Hawthorne Drive.
A major stream, part of the Euclid Creek watershed, runs through the basin.
It plays a significant role during storms, holding water and releasing it slowly downstream.
Hence the cleanup, to enhance the basin’s water-holding capacity.

Hawthorne is surrounded by undeveloped woodland.

Lots of wild critters live in the woods.

It turns out that some lived in the basin as well.

The night after the cleanout, I encountered a large strange-looking animal lying dead next to the road.

It wasn’t a possum. It wasn’t a groundhog.

It was a beaver.

Yep, a beaver had made its home in the basin.
It was evicted, unfortunately with fatal results.

No, I didn't take a picture.
This gives you an idea of what the critter looked like

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