Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
At its Oct. 27, 2026 committee meeting, the Cleveland City Council reviewed and unanimously approved five emergency ordinances: transferring city-owned parcels to the Industrial Commercial Land Bank, correcting two landmark designations, designating the former State Vocational Planning Center as a Cleveland landmark, and accepting a $1 million HUD grant for the Nora Village recovery housing project. No public testimony was heard.
I think we'll just go in numerical order today. We'll start with 1039. Which is community development, public health, and public works, transferring various permanent parcels. Good morning. I will read this in and then a routine amendment. This is ordinance number 1039-2026, an emergency ordinance authorizing the director of community development, public health, and public works to transfer various permanent parcels for the control, possession, and use of the Department of Development, Industrial Commercial Land Bank for Future Redevelopment. There is a boy. Okay. There is no legal objection to this legislation if amended as follows. And enter, quote numbers 002-18-0009, comma, 002-18-012, comma, 002-18-013, comma, 002-18-014, comma, 002-18-015, comma.02-18-016, comma, 0002-18-017, comma, 002-18-018, comma, 002-18-019, comma, 0002-18-020, comma, 002-18-021.02-18-030, comma, 002-18-031, comma, 002-18-032, comma, 002-18-033, comma, 002-18-034, comma, 002-18-035, comma, 002-18-036, semicolon. Okay, who's uh who's leading us off here? Um good morning, Chair. Uh Joe Bros Bordeaux Small, Director of Development. Um here with um John Fosbender and Matt Moss, um, both members of my team, um, and we're here today to talk about some parcels um and land that we've identified. Um that we are going to um coordinate with the Department of Development and Public Health and Public Worth works to consolidate and turn into public into productive use. Um and I will let John or Matt take over. Yeah, happy to provide a little more context and then pass it off to John to go over go through the presentation. We will walk through each of the sites for your benefit and then happy to answer any questions. These are various parcels that um under various authorities are held in under authority of different departments like public health, community development. Some of them are development sites that originally started in community development prior to the uh the the transfer and creation of the department of development, like the Water St. Lake site, which is the amendment you just uh gracefully read, councilman, into the into the record. Um because that parcel just transferred to the city after we introduced this legislation, we wanted that amended so we could be transferred into the land bank. The main benefits of having these properties in the city land bank is importantly we don't pay taxes on them, which is crucial as we prepare them for redevelopment, which can take quite a while. Um and then also as being in the land bank, it gives us the flexibility and authority to uh work with developers to redevelop these sites into new housing or to other uses. We can issue RFPs or RFQs. Um in the land bank, it has the authority under the director to transfer with support from the council person, so it makes it more flexible rather than having to pass an ordinance each time to sell land. Um it also allows flexibility in price, which is a crucial tool in getting these properties redeveloped. But with that I'll pass it off to John. Uh good morning, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. Click. This is, as you mentioned, ordinance 1029 or 1039, 2026. Sort of summarizing what Matt said, we the Industrial Commercial Land Bank has the authority to acquire property in a number of different ways. And that is essentially what's happening here for at least most of these properties. The first one we're going to talk about is the uh what the former Water Lake School property. We acquired it just last month from the CMSD. Um it's a it's a site that's 3.2 acres, zone two family. Um it's it's a really very promising site for future development right on Detroit Avenue. Um the this has been a transaction that's been in the work for uh quite a while with the idea that the city would be able to go in and redevelop the site for back in the forpes, economic beneficial purpose. Um this is a single parcel on the west side, uh West 99th in Lorraine. Um it was originally acquired by community development in 1994 for to be used for parking. Um it's one of the community development parking lots. Uh but adjacent to the property you see the big sort of striped parking lot to the right. That's actually the Cleveland Food Bank's West Side facility, and they're interested in acquiring this property for uh for parking for its own facility. Um this is the uh a property on East Carnegie or Carnegie and East 55th.