2/24/2026 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilman Shymske: The motion to recommend approval to City Council, with the condition that the preliminary plan be finalized, was approved and made by Mr. David and seconded by Mr. D'Alessandro, and the motion was denied 4-0. That's where we take our recommendations from, so just so you guys know that. That's all. Catherine Soltis: My name is Catherine Soltis. I live at 26723 Butternut Ridge Road. I have also, believe it or not, lived there for 47 years. I moved there when I was a child. My parents bought the house. And then later my husband and I bought it from my mom before she passed away. So, I mean, I've been there a very long time. And I don't understand why Butternut is targeted like the way it is because it's just going to be awful. I mean, the traffic is already bad. It took us like 10 minutes to get out of the driveway tonight. It's just going to change everything. So hopefully it is decided not to do it. I just don't think it's a good idea. I mean, there are other areas in the city that are going to be open. Like the school lots that have been sold, the old primary schools, there will be redevelopment there. There's land at the end of North Olmsted by North Ridgeville. So I'm just not sure why, if this is a designated a historic district, why we want to go changing that. Thanks. Mary Ellen Hemann: Good evening. Mary Ellen Hemann, 132 Greenward Way South, North Olmsted, Ohio. Average regular citizen. Good to see you guys. A couple things. The first is that, as you know, I have represented this group of people proudly in the past for 12 years. I have stood with them on many issues regarding windows for their homes. They've been denied vinyl windows. No, you have to redo your windows. There's no expert to redo their windows. They wanted siding. I had to come up here and take landmarks commission to the mat to get someone siding. Siding that was the same siding that they used to repair the Jefferson Memorial. That was the investment that that resident was making just to not have to paint his house every two orthree years because of the cost and his age. So I have been with them for a very long time. The biggest thing that I want you to know was that I was with Mayor Jones when she campaigned for her first term. We stood in the living rooms of some of these folks. We stood on their front porches and at their doors, and she promised them that there would be no development because apparently 10 or 20 years ago, however long it was, another mayor had tried to make a development on Butternut Ridge and that, you know, failed spectacularly. Thank God. So that was a campaign promise. Two years into the first term, I felt a little betrayed because the Economic Development Director brought a development to be placed on the south side of Butternut and in part taking a corner of the golf course, our crown jewel, and that shut down very quickly. Grateful I am that it got shut down quickly. And then now here it is again, you know, another development proposed. And the thing that I will tell you that in my 12 years of representing these folks and that historic district, they don't get a budget for pretty flowers or brick walkways. They don't get anything. They are only burdened with the requirements imposed by the Landmarks Commission. They have to spend a lot of money on their homes, and they don't get anything except the enjoyment of their homes. They're happy to do that. The biggest issue really is so in 12 years of representing this group of people and their historic district, this is the very first time a developer ever got 02-24-26 Public Nearing Minutes - Page 6