12/08/2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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times they feel they do not have the support of city hall regarding a lot of situations they have addressed. Mr. Yager mentioned the warehouse district downtown which isn't easy on anybody but because of it, it looks better. Kamm's Corner isn't easy on anybody but because of it, it looks better. Being easy on people is the grandest way to be sure they will get what they want and not what we, as a community, have a vision for. Is there a vision or direction the board wants to channel things through? Mr. Barker said they are hoping to have a meeting soon with the new Planning Director so they can get some of that done. Mr. O'Malley joined the meeting at this point and Mr. Lang gave hiin copies of the budget, starting with 2003 and going backward to 2000 to reflect what has happened to the budget. Mr. Lang said he will work with Mr. Barker on the budget. Mr. Barker asked him to e-mail his suggestions and he will work with that. Mrs. Lord said each year at this time they receive a letter related to being a member of the Heritage Home Loan Program. She said that program would be helpful to many citizens in North Olmsted. She said they would have to "up front" the $5,000 to be members. It seems it should be put in the budget, which will make people aware it is something that can benefit everyone. Mr. Barker said he would be happy to include it. Mr. Yager asked for clarification on the program. Mr. Lang explained it is a contractual arrangement between the City of North Olmsted and the county treasurer's office and is overseen by The Cleveland Restoration Society. He then reviewed some of the benefits of the program. There was discussion about budget deadlines and how many people could benefit from the program. Mr. Yager asked how many people are potential beneficiaries. Mrs. Lord said according to information she has, it is 1,536 houses that were built in 1949 or earlier. Mr. O'Malley asked Mr. Lang if they know how many of those homes are in the historic district. Mr. Lang said he believes almost everything in the district would be eligible. Mrs. Davis said she believes the newest home in the district was built in 1967. Mr. Yager asked when Halleen applied for the demolition permit. W. Lang said they applied in August. Mr. Dubowski said the application was actually July and the meeting with Landmarks was in August. Mr. Lang said the six month waiting period started then as far as they know. Mr. Yager asked how important Rebecca's is to the commission. Mr. Lang said considering they are running out of historic buildings, in this particular case, it is very important because it represents the first building erected for commercial purposes in the city. Mrs. Lord said the building was erected in 1898. Mr. Lang said the city shows a construction date of 1900 but the board goes by 1898. Mr. Lang asked Mr. Dubowski if he was able to bring up Rebecca's at Community Council. Mr. Dubowski said there was no real response from any group. Mr. O'Malley said he discussed this subject briefly with the board of directors of the Community Council and they do not have nearly as much money as one might expect as a result of the carnival. They have standing donations that they make for scholarships and seed money for next year's carnival. They coinmit most of their resources to renovations at the park. They also want to re-do the Community Cabin doors. Mr. Yager asked what credibility the commission would have if Rebecca's is torn down. In his eyes, it is a significant building and one of the only ones that he can understand to have some history. They could certainly get a moratorium put on anything if they had to. He said he doesn't know how they would go about doing that but emotion is a factor that should not be discounted. If they get a couple of emotionally tied people into a Council meeting asking to maintain that building, they would get a lot of energy behind this issue. He asked who the Councilperson is for that corner. Mr. Dubowski indicated Duane Limpert is the councilman. Mr. Lang said that John Dailey is the Council representative on Landmarks. Mr. O'Malley said that Mr. Dailey has gone on record to say he will go to any lengths to support the commission on this. Mr. Yager said this is very different than someone saying they want to change something. They are talking about knocking something down. He is amazed and appalled that CVS was able to knock down the building at that corner because that corner represented a little touch of the neighborhood and a historic district to him. He said just by putting up some fake windows is not a re-representation of that corner. He said he thinks eventually the idea of the city is that the whole quadrant is going to be more publicly oriented space. Rebecca's would be back in a position of prominence. To knock it down so you can see a KIA dealership better is not right. Halleen has done nothing to represent anything to the City of North Olmsted consistently. Whenever they have come before the city they come with a different proposal, they get the approval, and they come back next time 3