06/15/2004 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 6/15/2004 going to bump into the fence, and a good, heavy and solid U. S. American-made chainlink fence would certainly do the job, and it would be a lot cheaper. As an American, he would like to see a chainlink fence put up. The city should bear the cost. If the library would like buffering to make it esthetically pleasing, they can put up natural buffering such as bushes, trees, or evergreens. Patricia Deis, 26893 Sweetbriar, North Olmsted, said she attended awrap-up committee meeting tonight for the Relay for Life of the American Cancer Society which was recently held in Westlake. They would like to invite the administration and the City Council and the citizens of North Olmsted to join them next year as a partner in this effort. She would like to thank those individuals here this evening who participated in this year's Relay for Life. Michael Jablonski, 25149 Lessner, is concerned about improving the appearance of the city. He showed a picture of his neighbor's home and explained that Mr. Dailey had filed a complaint with the Building Dept. asking that the home be painted and repaved. The house now looks worse than before they were asked to paint it, and it is having a negative effect on the value of his property. This flies right in the face of the spirit of the code. He believes there is a problem with code enforcement in the city. He believes the city needs a proactive inspector. By not having a proactive property maimenance inspector, it creates a situation which fosters hostility in neighborhoods. If the city had a proactive inspector, residents would know that they are going to be upheld to a certain standard by the city. It's not his responsibility to keep his neighborhood looking nice. This is the reason why people don't call the city to complain, and that's why there isn't a backlog for the new inspector because people are afraid to call. This is threatening, and what is next door to him is irnimidating. He would like to know how long the neighbor has to paint his home and what his legal recourse is if it is not painted properly. Councilman Dailey said he believed the neighbor planned to paint the home a red brick color. He agrees that the house does look worse now, and he did speak to the Law Director about the tirneframe for doing the work. Law Director Dubelko said this issue was brought to his attention this evening, and he will ask Assistant Law Director O'Malley to speak to the Building Commissioner about this. The Law Dept. will make sure that the codes are being enforced. Councilman Gareau brought up the issue of esthetics and the fact that the city codes do not speak to what colors should be used for painting homes. People have their own opinions as to what looks good. He does know a battle broke out a few years ago in a community regarding esthetics and new developments where they weren't allowed to have more than two houses in a row of the same color. That issue ended up in the Supreme Court, which found that cities were allowed to legislate esthetics. But he does not know of any community that actually gets into whether or not a homeowner is entitled to paint a house a particular color. Law Director Dubelko said he believed that Mr. Gareau was referring to a situation which took place in Hudson. The Supreme Court for the first time really upheld in the State of Ohio the employment of esthetics as a Factor to be considered as the zoning code. Hudson incorporated color schemes as part of the coordination in their commercial district architectural features. He does not know of any communities that have conducted a study and have been able to incorporate color schemes in residential areas. The Supreme Court has said that it is somewhat shaky 12