MINUTES OF THE CUYAHOGA COUNTY
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
DECEMBER 14, 2023
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission (County Planning) was called to order by Director Dever at 2:01 p.m. and the roll call showed a quorum was present.
COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Mr. Porter from Willow Grove spoke of removing Resolution No 231214-A, requesting the disapproval of the Preliminary Plan for the Willow Grove Subdivision, a proposed Residential Multi-Family Townhouse (RMF-T) Development, located on the south side of Bagley Road in Olmsted Township that proposes the development of 50 townhouses on 29.23 acres from the Board agenda. Any issues should be addressed by the next meeting, so it is requested that the resolution be tabled. Director Cierebiej stated that the January, 2024 meeting is only tentative, and that new members may not be in place to have a quorum, so February, 2024 may be the next meeting.
MINUTES
On a motion by Mayor Daley Jones, seconded by Mayor Traore, the meeting minutes for October 12, 2023 were duly adopted with a unanimous vote.
RESOLUTIONS
Resolution No. 231214-A Requesting the disapproval of the Preliminary Plan for the Willow Grove Subdivision, a proposed 50 Residential Multi-Family Townhouse Development, located on the south side of Bagley Road in Olmsted Township that proposes the development of townhouses on 29.23 acres.
This Resolution was tabled by the applicant, Director Cierebiej stated that the January 11, 2024 meeting is only tentative, and that new Board members may not be in place to have a quorum so February, 2024 may be the next meeting.
On a motion by Director Dever, seconded by Mayor Sellers, to table resolution 231012-A and it was duly adopted with a unanimous vote.
Director Huang arrived at 2:17 p.m.
CUYAHOGA GREENPRINT VIEWER TOOL UPDATE
Mr. Daniel Meaney started by thanking the project team of Elaine Price, Kevin Leeson, and Liam Leveto, then continued describing the guidebook for sustainable practices and online mapping applications. Mr. Meaney went on to explain the changes such as the guidebook topic pages mirroring the mapping structure and the listing of new social characteristics are now available. The Greenprint Explorer mapping platform was developed entirely in-house and replaced the old platform developed with the Cuyahoga County Department of Information Technology (IT) in 2015. Mr. Meaney continued explaining the Greenprint’s new and improved layers along with the new functionality of the software program with a help function in filters. The upcoming training are online and free, but registration is required and can be found on the countyplanning.us website for the upcoming dates:
- January 10, 2024, 9:30–10:30 a.m.
- January 30, 2024, 3:00–4:00 p.m.
- February 21, 2024, 9:30–10:30 a.m.
- March 7, 2024, 3:30–4:30 p.m.
Mr. Meaney ended the report with an announcement that the Our County 2023 Data Book would soon be released with comparisons of different indicators between Cuyahoga County and ten other Midwest urban counties.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
Director Cierebiej reported on recent highlights starting with County Planning receiving the inaugural Montlack Visionary Program/Project Award for its Single-Family Zoning work with the First Suburbs Consortium. Ken Montlack passed away earlier in 2023 and the County Planning Commission was honored to be recognized with this award.
Patrick Hewitt was interviewed by NPR/Sound of Ideas regarding the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) work along with our partners at the City of Cleveland and GCRTA. Exposure of County Planning’s TOD work continued with momentum that came from the Steve Litt article in Cleveland.com, as work continues to get best practices implemented.
Nichole Laird has been appointed to GCRTA’s Community Advisory Committee. She is a daily user of public transportation and will be a representing member that then makes recommendations to the GCRTA Board of Trustees.
South Euclid City Council unanimously voted to adopt an updated residential zoning code update that the County Planning team created as part of the single-family zoning analysis. The new code will bring more existing properties into compliance and will reduce the need for zoning variances for in-fill construction projects. The City of South Euclid was one of the pilot communities that County Planning worked with to update their residential zoning code as a result of our single-family zoning work with the First Suburbs Consortium.
Director Cierebiej continued with an update on the 2024 Planning Grants and shared the timeline and deadlines as follows:
- Applications Opened:
- Monday, December 4, 2023
- Deadline for Questions:
- Friday, December 15, 2023
- Applications Due:
- Friday, January 12, 2024 by 3:00 pm
- Awards On or Before:
- Friday, March 1, 2024
County Planning’s recently approved 2024-2025 Biennial Budget was reported by Director Cierebiej. She noted that a request was made to County Council to increase County Planning’s operating budget at a minimum, to maintain current staffing levels (19), and cover operating costs and contractual obligations. Council voted to approve the requested increase, however, the 2024-2025 Biennial Budget does not include funding for the Principal Planner vacancy, only filled positions.
| Year | Proposed Budget | Final Approved Budget |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2,936,819 | $3,057,819 (+$121,000 requested) |
| 2025 | $2,022,191 | $2,159,526 (+$137,000 requested) |
Director Cierebiej continued the report by adding that the 2024 budget includes $950,000 for the Healthy Urban Tree Canopy (HUTC) grant program, but that funding is not included in 2025. Director Cierebiej thanked Councilwoman Simon and Councilwoman Conwell for their support, as well the rest of the members of County Council.
Other news noted by Director Cierebiej was that the final three logos were presented to the team this week, feedback from staff due Friday, December 15th, 2023. The new logo & branding will be shared with the Board in early 2024 and rolled out with the 2023 Annual Report coming out in the first quarter of 2024.
Old Business
There was no old business.
New Business
Councilperson Simon presented proclamation of appreciation from County Council to Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan, Mayor Bradley Sellers, and Mayor Gigi Traore who served on the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission and their terms have ended.
Adjourn
On a motion by Councilperson Simon, seconded by Mayor Sellers, the Planning Commission meeting was adjourned at 2:27 p.m.
Next Meeting is tentative for January 18, 2024
Organizational Meeting February 8, 2024
CUYAHOGA COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION
MEETING ATTENDANCE
DECEMBER 14, 2023
| MEMBER | PRESENT |
|---|---|
| Mayor Bibb/ Director Huang | Yes |
| Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan | Yes |
| Councilperson Yvonne Conwell | Yes, Joseph Nanni alternate |
| Mayor Dailey Jones | Yes |
| Director Michael Dever | Yes |
| Mayor Gallo | Yes |
| Mayor Orcutt | Yes |
| Mayor Brad Sellers | Yes |
| Councilperson Sunny Simon | Yes |
| Mayor Traore | Yes |
| Mayor Welo | No |
Annette Linden, County Planning
Megan Chaney, County Planning
Wesley Kretch, County Law
Christopher George, County Public Works
Brian Sowers, County Public Works
Jeanene Kress, Olmsted Township
Tom Cole, Olmsted Township
David Riepenhoff, Olm
Rick Porter, Willow Grove
Jordan Berns, Willow Grove
Majeed Makhlouf, Willow Grove
Kim Kerber, Mackay Engineering
Aaron Gross, Gross Builders