Citizens for Oakwood provided this summary and transcript.
Summary of South Euclid
Public Hearing (May 25, 2011) on
Rezoning of Oakwood land
The Citizens for Oakwood organization commissioned a court reporter to make a transcript of the public hearing which took place in Council Chambers of South Euclid City Hall on Wednesday, May 25, 2011. This hearing was regarding a proposed ordinance to rezone the Oakwood land from residential (R-75) to commercial (C-2), in order to permit the construction of a shopping center called Oakwood Commons.
The attached table lists the names and addresses of all community residents who spoke at the hearing. The column titled “For OC?” indicates whether the resident appeared to be in favor (“yes”) of building Oakwood Commons, against (“no”) building it, or undecided or ambiguous (“?”). The final column is a few-word synopsis of one or two main points made by the resident.
In condensing a 114-page transcript to a 2-page table much, of course, is lost. But it is hoped that much is also gained by providing a global overview of residents’ attitudes toward Oakwood Commons and their primary concerns.
Many residents did not explicitly indicate whether they were “for” or “against”. Every effort has been made to be fair in the “yes/no/?” assignments, but some subjectivity is inevitable. We encourage readers to refer to the original transcript which is available here: Oakwood Public Hearing
Here is a summary of the “yes/no/?” results:
| City | Yes(for Oakwood Commons) | No(against Oakwood Commons) | ?(ambiguous) | Total |
| South Euclid | 17 (31%) | 27 (50%) | 10 (19%) | 54 (100%) |
| Cleveland Hts | 1 (5%) | 16 (80%) | 3 (15%) | 20 (100%) |
| Total | 18 (24%) | 43 (58%) | 13 (18%) | 74 (100%) |
These results are similar to those reported online by Adam Horwitz in the May 26, 2011 Cleveland Heights Patch (see here).
Note that we have made no attempt to correct transcript errors in the spellings of names (of people and streets) in the attached summary table.
OC = Oakwood Commons
| Name | City | ForOC? | Comments |
| Joan Albro | SE | no | Malls=slums |
| Alan Jones | SE | yes | We need jobs |
| Christina Elswick | SE | no | Green space important (submitted written document) |
| Janet Covitt | SE | no | Don’t need more retail |
| Linda Green | SE | yes | Taxes will go to Brush High, no plans to build big box |
| Ruth Kronick | SE | yes | Mitch Schneider is a man of integrity |
| Marko Fikaris | SE | yes | Mayor and Council have done their homework |
| Tula Dallas | SE | no | Senior apartments instead of retail |
| Bob Fry | SE | ? | Will revenue from OC be positive? |
| Marty Gelfand | SE | yes | Walk to green OC |
| Steven Pressman | SE | no | Keep as recreational venue |
| Michael Kline | SE | no | Keep as environmental resource |
| Laura Luxenberg | SE | no | OC = detriment to quality of life |
| Bill Scheumann | SE | no | Don’t need more retail |
| Carol Sisson | SE | yes | Spend money in SE, want little bit of Legacy Village in SE |
| Barb Holtz | SE | yes | US Constitution says land can be developed, retail is better than residential |
| Fred Pearlman | SE | yes | Do something to make money off the land |
| Michael Hahn | SE | no | Make golf course & recreation area |
| Marie Rehmar | SE | ? | Hope OC encourages pedestrians, but concerned about safety and cannibalizing other stores |
| James Moruna | SE | yes | SE needs tax revenues |
| Kathy Schaefer | SE | no | Big box will repel potential residents |
| Karen Mandel | SE | no | Too much retail vacancy, need green space |
| Anna DiJulius | SE | no | More damage than good |
| Joan Hampton | SE | no | Don’t want OC, but put in upscale stores if it is built |
| Frances Burrows | SE | ? | Build office condominiums |
| Avi Goldman | SE | yes | We need jobs |
| Linda Pagon | SE | no | No big box |
| Rosie George | SE | ? | Another retailer will not help, land already sold so it’s a moot point |
| Alan Brucato | SE | no | Don’t need more retail |
| Carter Welo | SE | yes | Welcome development |
| Jack Nemecek | SE | yes | Will be good for the city |
| Gary Bloom | SE | no | Don’t need more retail, missing an opportunity |
| Edith Hicks | SE | no | No big box |
| Rachelle Neher | SE | no | Use land for recreation |
| Nancy FixlerSpitler | SE | no | Don’t need more retail, need green space |
| Angela Shute | SE | no | Rethink retail, consider senior housing |
| Sylvia Billups | SE | yes | Not just big box |
| Diana Brown | SE | ? | Did not comment |
| Robin Shell | SE | yes | Sidewalks, sustainability, taxes |
| Carol Tizzano | SE | no | Don’t need more retail, need green space |
| William McLaughlin | SE | ? | Various suggestions |
| Rocco Dilillo | SE | yes | Houses or retail only choice, trust First Interstate |
| Jerome Liptow | SE | no | Let the people vote on rezoning |
| Marcella Soukup | SE | no | We can do better than big box |
| Howard Senkfor | SE | no | Development not good for SE |
| Dan Shraner | SE | no | Don’t trust developer |
| Jane Kowall | SE | ? | Build high quality, not big box |
| Horace Rice | SE | ? | Build trauma center |
| Kevin Kay | SE | no | Environmental and economic loss |
| Cathy Fromet | SE | ? | Trust First Interstate but no thrilled with big box |
| Kathy Brunkala | SE | no | Senior housing, not big box |
| Carlean Alford | SE | ? | Need retail, but not junk |
| Kevin Fromet | SE | yes | Need more tax revenue |
| Hank Drake (e-mail read by Councilman Romeo) | SE | yes | Needs of majority outweigh needs of the few |
| Annarich Ruben | CH | no | Senior housing, don’t rezone |
| Misty Siegel | CH | ? | Described model city |
| Susan Miller | CH | no | Tax will go to CH-Uh schools, OC will be big box, regionalism |
| Adele Eisner | CH | no | Not enough specifics |
| Fran Mentch | CH | no | OC is short-sighted, develop Cedar Center |
| Rick Sones | CH | no | Compare OC to Hawthorne Village (submitted written document) |
| Ann Gecowets | CH | no | Jobs stolen from elsewhere, environmental harm |
| David Furry | CH | no | Put it up to a vote |
| Sue Janssen | CH | no | Don’t need more retail, need green space |
| Jan Snellman | CH | no | Need green space, drainage, regionalism |
| Olivia Geaghan | CH | yes | Ikea or Trader Joe’s as anchor, plus local restaurants |
| Steve Cagan | CH | no | Need more specifics |
| ? | CH | ? | More specifics would be wonderful |
| Carla Rautenberg | CH | no | Don’t need more retail, keep green space |
| Dr Robert Haas | CH | no | Development is irreversible |
| Marcie Denton | CH | no | Big box bad for community, regionalism |
| Mike Gaynier | CH | no | OC is not best way to develop that land |
| Richard Wong | CH | ? | Buffer between OC and houses needs to be larger (submitted written document) |
| Rickey Adorjan | CH | no | Don’t destroy nature to make money |
| Jennifer Hillman | CH | no | Central Park or a mall? |
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