From: https://www.cleveland.com/business/2019/12/broadview-heights-residents-say-they-werent-notified-of-meetings-involving-proposed-townhome-development.html?fbclid=IwAR2iP83Yyo8Rv1myv2JBQmMC_TFzVkZEizN35vcaTLzfYIeJmwmMT8g0On8
BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio – At least two residents living next to a proposed townhome subdivision said the city failed to notify them, as required by law, about public meetings where the subdivision was discussed.
Marilyn Houdek, who lives on Ohio 82 next to the proposed Ledges of Broadview townhome development, said she and her neighbors weren’t notified in advance about a Dec. 18 Planning Commission meeting where the Ledges of Broadview site plan was introduced to the commission.
Also, Houdek said the city didn’t notify her and her neighbors about a December 2018 planning commission meeting where the commission discussed a rezoning Ledges of Broadview developer Drees Homes needed to move forward with the subdivision. In May 2019, voters approved the rezoning.
Houdek pointed to a Broadview Heights city code section that states, “Notification to current residents located within 500 feet of any new development shall be made by the (city’s) Building Department, by regular mail, prior to the first Planning Commission meeting regarding (the) development, informing said residents that such development is scheduled to be considered for approval and the right to comment at the Planning Commission meeting.”
In addition, an Ohio Revised Code section states that if a city schedules a public hearing about a proposed rezoning of land involving 10 or fewer acres, it must notify residents living next to and directly across the street from the rezoning site at least 20 days in advance of the hearing.
“We hope that in the future, we will be notified of changes so we can address our concerns,” Houdek told the commission Dec. 18.
Ashley Fiala, who with her husband Matthew Fiala own property next to the Ledges of Broadview site, said the city claimed that proper notification procedures were followed. However, she said that she, her husband and other neighbors didn’t receive advance written notice of last week’s planning commission meeting or the zoning change hearing in December 2018.
“Thus, the zoning change should not have gone to the voters in May when it was ultimately approved,” Ashley Fiala told the commission last week.
Commission Chairman Richard Porter announced at last week’s meeting that meeting notification letters were emailed to anyone who attended a previous planning commission meeting, if they had provided their email addresses, as city officials requested.
However, after last week’s meeting, Matthew Fiala told cleveland.com that he and his wife were on the city’s email list but never received advanced notice of the Dec. 18 commission meeting. He said he learned of the meeting only because he checks the city’s website every day and noticed Dec. 16 that the commission had scheduled a Dec. 18 meeting, and that Ledges of Broadview was on the agenda.
Drees Homes, a Kentucky-based home builder with an office in Brecksville, is the Ledges of Broadview developer. The subdivision would consist of 36 townhomes on 82 just west of Broadview Road.
Last week, the planning commission tabled the Ledges of Broadview plan, asking for additional information from Drees.
Calendar confusion
Confusing matters further is that, according to the city’s website, the planning commission meets “generally” the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month – meaning that meeting dates are subject to change.
In addition, information on the city’s website isn’t always reliable.
In November, cleveland.com requested 24-hours advanced notification of all planning commission meetings due to the uncertainty. This was after it was noticed that the commission had scheduled a meeting for Nov. 20, the third Wednesday of the month, because the fourth Wednesday was the day before Thanksgiving.
At the time, commission secretary Jennifer Dukes told cleveland.com that the city calendar shows all the planning commission meetings for the year and indeed listed the Nov. 20 meeting. She provided a link to the calendar.
Then, on Dec. 11, cleveland.com sent an email to Dukes, asking if the commission was meeting that night, which was the second Wednesday. The meeting calendar didn’t show the meeting on the city website.
Dukes responded by saying a meeting was scheduled for Dec. 11 and at cleveland.com’s request emailed an agenda. She said she wasn’t sure why the meeting hadn’t been recorded on the city’s calendar at the time.
At the Dec. 18 meeting, commission chairman Porter told cleveland.com that the Dec. 18 meeting had been listed on the Planning Commission calendar all year.
Yet in the days following last week’s commission meeting, although the city calendar highlighted the date of Dec. 18, it’s didn’t say anything about a planning commission meeting. The calendar only reported that Mayor Sam Alai would not host an open house for residents on Dec. 18.
Residents’ concerns
Houdek said she was concerned about how Ledges of Broadview might worsen storm water problems on neighboring properties. She asked if wetlands would be preserved.
Also, Houdek wondered if Drees had performed a traffic study to determine if the development would cause congestion in the area. She worried that removal of trees would cause her property value to fall. Ashley Fiala expressed similar concerns.
Thom Sutcliffe, land acquisition manager with Drees in Brecksville, said Drees would conduct a traffic study if the city asks for one. He said Drees would take all necessary steps necessary to keep Ledges of Broadview storm water within the development, adding that because storm water regulations are stricter today than when existing homes were built, storm water conditions would improve, not worsen.
Sutcliffe said the Ledges of Broadview homeowners association would monitor and protect wetlands on the site. He said preserving those wetlands will be part of the subdivision’s attraction to potential homebuyers.
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