September 16, 2024

I have to remind you of my wrongful ban at the Galleria Erieview Tower. Nine years ago, Galleria security told me that I was banned for life from entering the Galleria Erieview Tower YMCA complex. Once again, 9 years ago Galleria security told me that I was banned for life from entering the Galleria Erieview Tower YMCA complex.

Why was I banned. I was wrongly accused of doing something. Two security guards wrongly accused me of masturbating in the restroom, something I did not do. Once again, two security guards wrongly accused me of masturbating in the restroom, something I did not do. James Kassouf is the current owner of the Erieview Tower and I'm sending monthly letters to James Kassouf. Once again, 9 years ago Galleria security told me that I was banned for life from entering the Galleria Erieview Tower YMCA complex. I was wrongly accused of masturbating in the restroom.

This blacklist cancer cell might spread. Just recently I found out that much of the East 55th Marina is going to be renamed after the Galleria and Parker Haniffin Corporation. I just found out that much of the East 55th Marina is going to be renamed after the Galleria and Parker Haniffin Corporation. Can you imagine me being banned from the East 55th Marina. I emailed a sad note of despair to Parker Hannifin Corporation and I also emailed a sad note of despair to the Cleveland Metroparks office. Don't worry about me, I'm doing fine now. If I have any further problems, I'll call the 988 hotline. Once again, I'll call 988 if I have any further problems. Any corporation that is blacklist hungry should not not receive contracts with the City of Cleveland. Once again, any corporation that is blacklist hungry should not receive contracts with the City of Cleveland. Keep these jerks out of here.

Don't forget what I said about my wrongful ban at the Galleria Erieview Tower YMCA complex. I was wrongly accused of masturbating in the restroom. I am 50 years old. I am sober, I rarely drink alcohol. My name is Stephen Katanovic. Again my name is Stephen Katanovic.

Hi. My name is Adam Bresnahan. I live in ward 11. I'm asking you today to not allow the construction of a gas station at the northeast corner of West Boulevard and Madison Avenue, whether it be by letting the zoning board's decision stand or by voting against legislation to overturn that decision.

A few of my neighbors spoke against this project last week. Others have submitted comments online. As you know, the lot is right next to the Marion C. Seltzer Elementary School, the Cudell Commons park and rec center, and is part of a pedestrian or retail overlay zone to promote walkable districts. A gas station would destroy this. Children are walking around here.

So now I'd like to respond to a couple of arguments that council member Kelly made in recent comments and support of the project to Axios journalist Sam Allard. First, Mr. Kelly stated that people, quote, 'people in my ward are in their 60s and they drive cars, they're not getting on their bikes with their babushkas', end quote. While there may be people in the ward who are in their 60s, the city's own census data shows that the median age in the ward is about 32. Moreover, as I noted, the people who spend time in this particular area, whether they live in the ward or not, are children. Second, Mr. Kelly stated that most of the opposition to the project was coming from neighboring Ward 15. In fact, I wrote Mr. Kelly stating my opposition to the project in July, but unfortunately I did not receive a response. Our neighbors in the ward have spoken out against it since then. Moreover, after I spoke about pedestrian safety here at the council a few months ago, Mr. Kelly had his aide call me to reassure me that my council member is concerned about pedestrian safety. I greatly appreciate the call. In my comment in fact, I identified this exact stretch of West Boulevard as being especially dangerous for pedestrians. Now my council member is trying to get rid of a pedestrian safety zone. These two positions are irreconcilable, either you're for pedestrian safety and you're for pedestrian safety zone or the opposite, but they can't be reconciled.

And if I can digress, you know this kind of stuff where people see and hear one thing, somebody says one thing and then they do another, this is one of the reasons that people get disengaged from politics. I've been trying to get people to register to vote for the upcoming election. So many people tell me, 'oh I'm not voting, you know they don't care about me, the system doesn't work, etc. etc., and that's why you know, forget it I'm not voting', and it's this kind of stuff. So it's not just a gas station you know in Cudell and Cleveland, it's a bigger issue here. So please listen to the residents of ward 11. Think about the safety of the kids who spend time in Cudell Park, in the elementary school, whether they live in the ward or not. Really this neighborhood does not need a gas station. What it really needs is a grocery store. So please, vote against the construction of a gas station at the corner of West and Madison. Our great city of Cleveland can do a lot better than this. Thanks.

Thank you Council President. As you all know my name is Juan, and I want to start by saying that in no way, shape or form chap I believe a gas station will hurt a neighborhood in any way. I do support my constituents back here and I support the environmentalist work we have done, but I also support the feeling of a building that has been abandoned before it becomes a blight property.

I have lived in three wards in my entire life in Cleveland. I lived in ward 17, 11 and 12. Love all three of my Council people, great working Council persons. I surveyed 173 members of each one of those wards in the past week, 86 from ward 17, 50 from ward 11, and 37 from ward 12. I asked them the following question: does your neighborhood have gas stations, and you feel unsafe because of those gas stations? Most of them replied yes, they do have gas stations, no it doesn't cause any problems in their neighborhood. I also checked with many of the other residents and I asked other questions, but also took it upon myself to drive around on these wards. When I ask which ward do you feel the safest in, they reply ward 17, which says then Charlie Slife is doing a great job. So I drove around that ward and I took a look and it seems that there is plenty of gas stations. I then went by ward 12 which is run by Council woman Rebecca Maurer, and I also looked and it seems like there is many gas stations, but the residents still feel safe. Also took a drive by ward 11, which is my ward currently, and saw the same thing. So gas stations are not the problem, and the problem is in the neighborhoods. So it's safety.

Going over that I checked, and I looked around ward 11, drove around the area. One of the biggest arguments is that they will be selling alcohol and nicotine. I looked across the street from Cudell Park and the the school Marion Seltzer, and across the street from Story Church, and the current owner of that corner store does sell alcohol products and nicotine products, and we do not see elementary school students going for it.

Lastly I want to address one of the biggest arguments that the people that are opposing this are having, and it is then the councilman of ward 11 is accepting bribes, money from the people of the gas station. I have known the councilman for over three years right now and I can tell them, to quote councilman Polensek, Danny Kelly is one of the most honest people I have met in my life. He is a working man and I don't believe that he will be ever taking bribes from anybody, and I know that I'm going to piss off a lot of my constituents back here, but I know that Danny Kelly will never take any bribe money for that, and I'm only talking the truth for the time I known this man. I was sick one time. to tell a story, and he came to my house to bring me like chicken noodle soup to and hand it to my girlfriend. For the time I known this man, he's the most honest council person I've met and living in ward 11, I've known two of the former council people, and one of them never treated me well, and the other one, all he did was ask for political favors and gerrymander the area. So I ask Council to please listen to the people of ward 11 and not the people of ward 15 for once in this situation. Thank you.

Good evening, Council members. My name is Heather Smith and I live in Ward 11. You may recognize my name from recent emails I have sent you. I am standing before you in opposition Police reports and drug use were mentioned but there were no mentions of the environmental and health impacts, traffic safety concerns, or the PRO district. In my opinion the resulting data should not be considered viable and causes me to question the validity of any other data collection activities. The message also did not mention that the rezoning effort has already been denied by two of your review boards. This aspect particularly confuses me. Review boards like the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Planning Commission exist because City Council members like you all do not and cannot possibly have the bandwidth to be experts on everything as it pertains to city management. I trust our city planning experts to know what is best for our residents, and the current goals of the City of Cleveland, like Vision Zero and 15-minute cities. In fact, the City Planning Commission Safe Routes program lists the intersection at West Boulevard and Madison Avenue in its plan. According to the Vision Zero website, there were four accidents at the intersection between 2017 and 2019 resulting in three injuries and one fatality. The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety reports that pedestrian fatalities have risen 80% since 2009 and is only getting worse as our cars get larger in size. This is particularly poignant right now because on my way here, my friend who was coming to support me got hit by a car and is now in the ER.

I don't know about you but I wouldn't want my child crossing through a gas station on their way to elementary school. In my original email on August 22nd, I expressed that there had been much discussion among the ward 11 and Ward 15 community that council member Kelly's loyalties are misaligned to be fighting for the gas station development despite community opposition. My email was met with hostile responses by some of those on Council, riddled with relevant personal opinions of council member Kelly's honor. As a reminder to us, all campaign finance donations are available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act. I encourage anyone listening to follow the money and see how the dots connect, because I certainly have. Council, thank you.

How you doing. Good evening, I am here along with the residents of ward 11 to endorse and support the proposed gas station and plaza located on Madison and West Boulevard. As I walk and drive up and down Madison, I am heartbroken at the number of boarded up properties most of which are storefronts. The entire area has not seen any retail development in the last 15 years, and this is prolonged stagnant has left our neighborhood looking abandoned and neglected. I feel very unsafe with these boarded up properties and try not to venture out at night, and like, I have a dog and I don't even feel safe. I have a Rottweiler. I don't even feel safe with my dog. I am thankful that the councilman and developers have taken the initiative to begin revitalizing the neighborhood and I hope this will be the catalyst to bring other sustainable projects to our community. This project represents the first step in restoring vitality in our area and attracting new businesses. I encourage councilman Danny Kelly and the entire Council to support this economic development project, and I hopes that it begins the beginning of a well-deserved progress our neighborhood needs. Thank you.

Good evening. As a resident of ward 11 living just a few hundred feet proposed development project at 10022 Madison Avenue, I can no longer stay silent while people who claim to live in this area attempt to dictate what is and isn't proper development for our neighborhood.

Our residents of Madison West Boulevard area understand our community's needs better than anyone else. We don't need individuals with special interests who sit on boards of CDCs that don't represent the neighborhood and live 40 blocks away imposing their opinions on us.

Last week, I witnessed someone addressing the council as a Cudell area resident expressing concerns about the safety of children in the neighborhood, however this person doesn't live in our immediate area, they live near Denison, more than a mile away, which I now live on Denison. Our neighborhood has virtually no pedestrian traffic. The sidewalks are mostly empty with traffic and picking up during morning and evening rush hours. Outside of that it's a quiet area. The lack of traffic is exactly why the CVS closed. It wasn't sustainable due to the low activity in the area. Our community has been stagnant for over 15 years and current zoning and pedestrians overlay district only have worsened the situation. After 13 years directly have only have no significant development to show along Madison Avenue. It's time we explore new direction just as councilman Kelly has. The developers alongside Councilman Kelly have been actively engaging and the neighbors who have directly impacted and the majority of us support this project. I urge the council to support the rezoning for this new development. I also ask my neighbors who are here today to stand and show their support for the redevelopment. Thank you for your time.

Good evening everybody. My name is Ivelisse Colon and I'm here as a concerned resident of Madison and West Boulevard area. I'd like to share a snapshot of the current status of Madison Avenue.

While there are only a few small mom and pop stores, there are no major retail chains along the entire stretch of Madison Avenue. We have no main grocery stores, no banks, no barber shops, no restaurants, no drug stores, no gas stations, no auto parts, no coffee shops, no pizza, burgers. What we do have is a collection of vacant and rundown buildings on our current zoning actively discourage development placing unnecessary obstacles in the way of progress. Why is it a bad idea to encourage to develop a strip center anchored by a major brand retail outlet of major brand gas station? The only reason it will be bad as if we maintain the status of quote of a landscape of vacancy and dilapidations.

I'm here to ask the council to support the rezoning and redevelopment of 10022 Madison Avenue. We are hopeful that this development will be catalyst and encourage more retail growth in the area. Please support our residents along with our councilman and the effort to rezone and revitalize our neighborhood. Thank you for your time.

In this evening, I would like to say something in Spanish. So as a Spanish resident, I would like to say that also right, we have a big population of Spanish-speaking there, and why not have a gas station where we could have food early in the morning? It could be a 24/7 service where we don't have to drive two three miles away so that we can have gas, we can get food for our kids in the morning or anytime we want. We can have medicine there, we can get anything we want from there, and I mean why not? What is it hurting the community? Why do we have a street that has so many vacants? It's nothing there. Dollar General's gone, restaurants are gone, the two Spanish restaurants we had there are gone, I mean, the CVS is gone. We have all these kids like they say, we have the school, why have all these vacant buildings where we can have the crime can go up and other things can happen, like why have all these vacant places there, where they can be filled with and look better? Why do we do that street have to be so it looks so abandoned and other places like Tremont, Tremont just got done, Metro just got done, why do we have to have West Boulevard look like that, like a empty abandoned, it's like no one living there. What are we having for our kids? Why do we have to low income us have to be like that? Thank you, you guys have a nice day.

Good evening, my name is Stephanie Honeycutt and I'm here to express my support for the rezoning of 10022 Madison Avenue. I urge this Council to stand behind this initiative as well. When the area was rezoned over 13 years ago, it was done under the pretense of preserving a pedestrian retail character. They painted a picture as though Madison Avenue was intended to resemble areas like Crocker Park and this pedestrian retail character. But in reality, this characterization was far from accurate. There never was a thriving pedestrian retail scene here, excuse me, inside this rezoning created unnecessary barriers, stifling from potential for retail development. In the 13 years since, not a single new retail project has taken root in this area. As we look around Madison Avenue, we see only vacant rundown and abandoned buildings. a clear sign of how this rezoning has hurt, not helped, the community. The question now is how long must we wait to acknowledge the damage that was done and take steps to reverse it. I would like to extend my gratitude to our councilman, Danny Kelly, for taking a proactive stance. Unlike others who have remained idle, his commitment to making progress is commendable and deserves our support. I urge this Council to back his efforts to revive this area and help bring it into the modern area. Thank you. Like she was saying, we are it looks like trash over there. We should get buildings in. We should get different food spots, pizza places, it doesn't matter, gas station, stuff like that. We look ghetto, you know what I'm saying, like, it should be revived. And thank you for your time.