10/21/2025 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Matthews: So thank you. I would just ask for you to please think very long and hard and clear. Council President Pro Tempore Scarl: Thank you. Mr. Wiles: Hello. My name is Ed Wiles. I'm at 25746 Butternut Ridge Road. I just want to thank everybody for the opportunity to speak out. I was reminded, you know, when we did a little canvassing too this week, we've been in that neighborhood a long time, and when we moved in, we bought the old Lisey house next to the cemetery, they welcomed us. Mr. and Mrs. Lisey still live there. They had a little block party for us just welcoming us into the neighborhood, and I think that's one of the things that really appealed to me about the area. Not only the historic nature, we are both antique buffs and everything else, but the idea that people take a lot of pride in their homes and so forth. And when we were canvassing, like Hannah mentioned, I got a chance to reconnect with a lot of people, which I really enjoyed. I appreciate the process of hashing this thing out and hearing everybody's view. I understand, you know, economics pretty well. I feel like I have an appreciation for that. I also feel like there's an appreciation and a respect for the whole neighborhood concept and preserving that. Many people come to North Olmsted via Butternut Ridge. I mean, it's what they see, and for the most part, they see nice homes that are well cared for, and thanks to the Landmarks Commission, too. They make it challenging for many of us to do some restoration work, but it's all in a good way to keep the standards high. That's one of the points. I think the reason my angst was built up, is I heard about this kind of in an offhanded way, and we were invited to a meeting by the developer, and it's like all the plans are drawn up. It's like, well, wow, that's news to me. I hadn't heard anything. The only thing I knew about city development that I'd heard about was the 2025 plan, and I attended those meetings. My wife and I went, and I put the dots in the little board. I actually took pictures. I hadn't had a chance to go back and look at them, but the consensus that I saw was more green space, more single family housing dwelling, more access to parks. I'm like, where did this come from? We do acknowledge, living on Butternut Ridge Road, that there are problems. There are problems with the condition of the road. There's problems with traffic. There's problems with water. Many of our neighbors, one of the gals spoke at the meetings, her basement flooded frequently. It's like the whole prospect of considering this, putting 45 homes on five acres in asphalt, either with drive or with shingles, it just adds to all the problems we already have. I'm thinking why? I think that's why people are a little upset, not a little, I think more than a little. Why would we add to those problems of traffic, what to do with the water, a reduction in green space? They're all things that we're not trying to do with our 2025 plan. Appreciate you hearing me out. Council President Pro Tempore Scarl: Thank you. 1.0-2 i.-25 Council Meeting Minutes - Page 1.3