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Record of Proceedings

Lakewood COW & Planning Commission Joint Meeting: CASE Advisory Board, June 30, 2025

Council Meetings — Monday, June 30, 2025
BodyLakewood, Ohio
SessionCouncil Meetings
DateMonday, June 30, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:06:36

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:07

All right.

0:10

Chair McDermott, are you guys ready to start?

0:16

So let's call the meeting to order the meeting of the Committee of the Whole and Planning Commission.

0:22

We have most of Committee of the Whole here.

0:32

And Sean, do you need to call yours to order separately or do a roll?

0:38

Yes.

0:39

So call to order special meeting for City of Liquid Planning Commission of Monday, June 30th.

0:47

And then do we want to do roll?

0:50

We can, Mr.

0:51

Chair, if you want.

0:51

Okay.

0:52

Ms.

0:52

Gull.

0:55

Mr.

0:55

Reese.

0:56

Here.

0:56

Ms.

0:57

Janderson.

0:58

And Mr.

0:58

McNarron.

0:59

Here.

0:59

And should we motion for Mr.

1:01

McPoint?

1:01

Mr.

1:02

Point notified us earlier that you is feeling ill today.

1:06

So yeah, if you want to make a motion.

1:08

I'll motion to excuse the absence of Mr.

1:10

Le Point.

1:10

I'll second.

1:12

Second.

1:13

Any discussion?

1:14

Hearing none.

1:14

I'll signify approval by stating aye.

1:16

Aye.

1:17

Motion carries.

1:18

Thanks.

1:18

Thank you.

1:21

Next we have uh I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the joint meeting of committee on the whole and planning commission held April 28th, 2025.

1:30

So moved.

1:31

Motion's been made and seconded.

1:33

Any discussion?

1:34

Hearing.

1:36

You asked for a motion.

1:37

I gave you a motion.

1:38

Oh I said I made a motion.

1:39

Oh, you made a motion.

1:41

Sorry.

1:42

All right.

1:43

So motion seconded.

1:44

Uh any discussion?

1:46

Hearing none, all those in favor?

1:48

Aye.

1:49

And that motion passes.

1:51

Great.

1:52

Uh also, Planning Commission, is there a motion to approve the uh joint meeting minutes from April 28th, uh, 2025.

2:03

I'll make a motion to approve.

2:05

Scald, is there a second?

2:08

Reese, thank you.

2:09

Any discussion?

2:10

Hearing none, um I'll signify approval by stating aye.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Active Transportation█████████████████████████████████████████████45%
Public Engagement███████████████████████23%
Community Engagement███████████████15%
Procedural████████████12%
Accessibility███3%
Public Art██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Lakewood Committee of the Whole & Planning Commission Special Joint Meeting – June 30, 2025

The Committee of the Whole (COW) and the Planning Commission held a special joint meeting on June 30, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. in Lakewood City Hall. The primary focus was Ordinance 17-2025, establishing a Complete and Active Streets Education & Advisory Board (CASE), a companion to the Complete Streets Ordinance (16-2025). The meeting included public comment, deliberation on board membership and scope, and administrative updates on the Complete Streets ordinance.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: The minutes of the joint meeting of the Committee of the Whole and Planning Commission held April 28, 2025, were approved unanimously by both bodies.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Robbie (Bayes Ave): Identified as a bike commuter and transit user. Expressed support for the CASE board but requested adding a transit user to the membership. Also raised concern that the Active Transportation Plan (ATP) update interval of 10 years is too long, noting that major streets like Detroit could miss improvements for decades if not listed in the ATP.
  • Josh Matura (1520 Cohasset): Echoed Robbie’s comments, emphasizing the need for a transit user perspective. Highlighted safety issues such as crosswalks where cars speed up. Also suggested that the CASE board could provide feedback on Tier II projects not in the ATP, such as Detroit Road or Clifton Boulevard.

Discussion Items

Ordinance 17-2025: Complete and Active Streets Education & Advisory Board (CASE)

  • Introduction: Council President Kepple explained the CASE board as a companion to the Complete Streets ordinance, focusing on education, short-term interventions, and gathering lived-experience input from diverse users of the rights-of-way. The board would meet at least quarterly and advise the city on multimodal safety, public education, and implementation of the Active Transportation Plan.
  • Public Feedback Integration: Public comment requested the addition of a transit user. Multiple council members supported this, as well as adding a school district representative (ex officio). The ADA Transition Plan task force had also recommended including multiple disability perspectives.
  • Scope and Role: Administration (Director Vargo) expressed caution about the board’s scope, noting potential overlap with the Planning Commission’s role and the ATP. Councilmembers Strebig, Hamilton Steiner, and Baker saw the board as a supportive, educational, and advisory body—similar to the Tree Education Advisory Board—to build community buy-in and provide input on quick interventions (e.g., stop signs, crosswalk art, hike/bike to school programs). Councilmember Bullock questioned whether the board’s authority ("collaborating") was strong enough, but after discussion, the consensus was to keep it advisory.
  • Membership Composition: The draft listed five voting members appointed by Council (3) and Mayor (2) with lived experiences as motorist, pedestrian, person with disability, cyclist, and person with children. Non-voting ex officio members: Planning Director, Public Works Director, Public Information Officer, and a Council liaison.
  • Motions Adopted:
    1. Transit User Added: Motion made and seconded to add a community member with significant lived experience navigating rights-of-way as a transit user (under 161.02). Carried unanimously.
    2. School Board Representative: Motion to add an ex officio school board representative. Carried unanimously.
    3. Language Change: Motion to amend 161.01 by replacing "enjoyable" with "accessible" in the purpose statement (changing "safe, effective, and enjoyable" to "safe, effective, and accessible"). The motion was made and seconded; discussion ensued, and it passed.
  • Next Steps: Council President Kepple stated she would introduce a substitute ordinance incorporating the changes. The complete streets ordinance (16-2025) is nearly final, with minor procedural edits; it will be presented to Planning Commission in August.

Key Outcomes

  • Votes:
    • Approved joint meeting minutes (unanimous).
    • Approved adding a transit user to CASE board membership (unanimous).
    • Approved adding a school board representative as ex officio non-voting member (unanimous).
    • Approved changing "enjoyable" to "accessible" in the purpose clause (unanimous).
  • Referrals: The revised CASE ordinance will be brought back to COW and PC after incorporating the approved changes. The Complete Streets ordinance (16-2025) is expected to be formally considered by Planning Commission in August 2025.
  • Directives: Administration to share a consolidated version of the Complete Streets ordinance with PC via the next docket; no additional joint meeting needed.

Meeting Transcript

All right. Chair McDermott, are you guys ready to start? So let's call the meeting to order the meeting of the Committee of the Whole and Planning Commission. We have most of Committee of the Whole here. And Sean, do you need to call yours to order separately or do a roll? Yes. So call to order special meeting for City of Liquid Planning Commission of Monday, June 30th. And then do we want to do roll? We can, Mr. Chair, if you want. Okay. Ms. Gull. Mr. Reese. Here. Ms. Janderson. And Mr. McNarron. Here. And should we motion for Mr. McPoint? Mr. Point notified us earlier that you is feeling ill today. So yeah, if you want to make a motion. I'll motion to excuse the absence of Mr. Le Point. I'll second. Second. Any discussion? Hearing none. I'll signify approval by stating aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thanks. Thank you. Next we have uh I'll make a motion to approve the minutes of the joint meeting of committee on the whole and planning commission held April 28th, 2025. So moved. Motion's been made and seconded. Any discussion? Hearing. You asked for a motion. I gave you a motion. Oh I said I made a motion. Oh, you made a motion. Sorry. All right. So motion seconded. Uh any discussion?

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