Cleveland City Council Finance Committee Meeting – April 27, 2026
Cleveland City Council Finance Committee Meeting – April 27, 2026
The Cleveland City Council Finance Committee met on April 27, 2026, to consider several agenda items, including development projects, tax incentives, zoning updates, and capital improvement plans. Key discussions centered on the North Coast Yard pop-up park, a brownfield redevelopment area, a loan to Guardian Structural Technologies, the expansion of form-based code, and amendments to the city's capital improvement plan (MoCaP) including the removal of funding for City Hall modernization and a failed attempt to redirect golf course funds to Cleveland Public Power.
Discussion Items
- North Coast Yard Pop-Up Park (Presentation by Scott from Cleveland Development Corporation): Scott presented the temporary park north of FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened last year for 2.5 months and attracted 25,000 unique visitors. The park is 1.2 acres (90 of 2,100 parking spaces) and offers free activities like basketball, roller skating, and live music. It is funded entirely by the organization's operating budget. Council members asked about parking revenue, the harbor fund, and the future of the site. The project is meant to activate the site until permanent development begins. Councilman Brian Kazy requested data on parking revenue generated last year, and the administration agreed to provide it.
- Ordinance 401-2026: Midland Development Area Brownfield Designation: The legislation designates 89 acres (52 parcels) along the Norfolk Southern rail line as a Priority Investment Area to access up to $10 million in state brownfield grants. The city is not asked to add funds. Councilwoman Santana requested a list of brownfield sites citywide by ward. The item passed.
- Ordinance 402-2026: Loan to Guardian Structural Technologies: The city proposes a $500,000 loan at 5% over 7 years to Guardian Structural Technologies, a manufacturer of building envelope systems, to expand into a second location at 18105 Cleveland Parkway. The company will retain 11 FTEs and create 16 new jobs, adding $967,000 in payroll and $24,000 in annual income tax. Councilman Michael Polensek asked about the company's use of prefabricated wall panels and requested more information on projects in Cleveland. The ordinance passed with Councilman Harsh added as a co-sponsor.
- Ordinance 1398-2025 (as amended): Form-Based Code Pilot Expansion: The legislation authorizes hiring a consultant to enhance the existing form-based code pilot and potentially expand it citywide. The contract is capped at $125,000 with three one-year renewal options. Council members discussed the need for public engagement, protection of residential districts, and concerns about gentrification and displacement. Amendments included requiring the director of planning to notify council of cooperative purchases. The ordinance passed as amended.
- MoCaP Ordinances 232-2026 and 234-2026 (as amended): Capital Improvement Plan Amendments: These ordinances cover public facilities and recreation improvements. The committee adopted amendments to remove $7 million for City Hall modernization (including ADA upgrades and a new entrance) and $500,000 for relocating Parks and Recreation staff. The administration indicated it would bring back separate legislation for ADA improvements. Councilman Anthony Brancatelli made a motion to strike $1.184 million for Highland Golf Course pump house improvements and redirect the funds to Cleveland Public Power (CPP) for emergency repairs. The motion failed on a roll call vote (2 yeas, 10 nays). The amended ordinances passed.
- Ordinance 309-2026: Roadway Maintenance Contract: A two-year requirements contract for asphalt, concrete, ADA ramps, and sidewalks. Councilman Michael Polensek requested a list of contractors from the 50-50 sidewalk program and their performance. The ordinance passed.
- Ordinance 131-2026: IRS Declaration of Intent: Authorizes the finance director to sign declarations for reimbursing general fund advances with bond proceeds. An amendment was added requiring the director to notify council of each declaration. The ordinance passed with one opposed (Councilman Harsh).
- Ordinance 516-2026: Insurance Procurement: Authorizes centralized insurance procurement for municipal operations (excluding health insurance) for three years with two renewal options. Amendments capped total annual cost at $1.2 million and required notification of purchases. The ordinance passed.
Key Outcomes
- North Coast Yard: Continued operation for summer 2026 authorized; no formal vote required.
- Ordinance 401-2026: Approved.
- Ordinance 402-2026: Approved (with Councilman Harsh added).
- Ordinance 1398-2025 (as amended): Approved.
- MoCaP Ordinances 232-2026 and 234-2026 (as amended): Approved. The $7 million City Hall modernization allocation was removed; the administration will bring separate legislation. The $1.184 million for Highland Golf Course pump house was retained (motion to redirect failed 2-10).
- Ordinance 309-2026: Approved.
- Ordinance 131-2026 (as amended): Approved (one opposed).
- Ordinance 516-2026 (as amended): Approved.
Meeting Transcript
I mean one of that part of the shop is that you should have some possible scale small yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very nice. So you have to notice it. Anybody who comes in time. I don't know. I almost want to say that's the most important thing. So she just starts also weak stuff. So I should get into that. Oh man everywhere and uh green. Is that just uh all the way to that maybe this way but I don't think we would get all the time as well as that's true? I think the last one is sharing. Thank you. I'm gonna bring the port control. This is ordered four through a four gas. City home property located on Doctor Two and he's going to hear after you have two team operations in the North Coast. Um hello everybody. Um Scott's going to execute directly development corporation. Um I'm normally here talking to you all about development. I'm normally here talking to you all about development of the stadium site, but that's not all our organization does. Last year we built a pop-up park that we called the North Coast Yard. The goal is to start to create a sense of plates and place and activate the site north of the ground stadium prior to any permanent development, developmental construction. So this is a temporary facility that will be operational until we start the permanent construction of the site. I'm going to walk very briefly through mostly just images to sort of give you an idea of what we've done last year and what the plans are for this year. So this is the site itself. For those of you who don't know, it is north of the ground stadium, it's directly adjacent to the steamship matter. So it's about 1.2 acres, well for context, 90 of the 2100 parking spaces that are on that site. It's made up of a couple areas. You see in the northern edge of the water's front, we have furniture and couches to sit out at the water. There is one ship container as a bar and offers food. We have flu trucks there at a regular basis. You can see what we call community blacktops, which are used for basketball, roller skating, soccer, sort of kids' trip, and activities. And then sort of surrounded and anchored by both quarter laws and ship containers. The operations of this are entirely funded by the operating budget of my organization, so uh not asking the city for anything. Um programmatic goals, really, we can go through all of these, but really what it is is again creating a sense of place, starting to activate the space, and really trying out both uses and partners for the permanent development site that we want to see. So we're working right now with nonprofit organizations and small businesses that we can use this as an opportunity to bring them in and continue to work with them when we build that more permanent space. Uh just a couple images. We worked with uh CMSE students uh to create some uh sort of tent uh furniture out of book pallets. Uh like I said, we have kids games. This is a very family-friendly place. If you go there at 5 30 p.m. on a Friday, there's folks roller skating, kids on uh bikes and trikes, kids playing basketball, their parents sort of super question. Uh like John mentioned, last year we opened for two and a half months, and we had 25,000 unique visitors, um, which again I think shows proves the case that folks, if you give them an opportunity, do want to spend time and have fun on the lakefront, and you can create space to do that at relatively low cost. Um, just a fun fact we hosted 20 birthday parties ranging from ages six to sixty-five. Uh we had a couple marquee events. Um, so it's part of NGK Day, it's called SLS League. It's a skateboarding competition took over. We hosted an air show, watch party, as well as a 4th of July wash party. Um, this is something we are really proud of.
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