One smart resident of University Heights, not a civil engineer, not a Council member, not a Zoning Committee member, brought up to the attention of UHNOGas that Waterway's proposal had a MAJOR ZONING ISSUE: the proposed gas station/car wash/convenience store had to use a strip of land zoned "Parking" for its commercial activities.
Three very capable lawyers, put their personal time into this matter and looked into it. They gathered info, and visual proof, that was brought to the attention of Mr. Consolo
Apparently, this point escaped the attention of Zoning members and the civil engineer....
It turns out, that Waterway cannot build their proposed project, even if they wanted to. It would require to rezone the city plans (several other areas fall into the same category). The BP gas station's owner(s) on Fairmount, applied for a permit that would allow them to build a car wash as well, and were told that zoning issues wouldn't allow it.
This proposal was denied consideration because of these issues.
Wouldn't be unfair if the zoning changes were to be allowed to Waterway, once that had been refused to BP? We ask...
It is a major oversight, that created useless stirred sentiments among residents of University Heights.
It weren't for the strong opposition of UHNOGas members, this oversight might have been overlooked.
Kudos to Mr. Frank Consolo that, informed of the Zoning problem, started an investigation concerning the issue, and obtained that the proposal was put to a halt.
THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER MEETINGS INVOLVING WATERWAY'S PROPOSAL UNTIL THE ZONING ISSUES WILL BE ADDRESSED.
As news develop we will keep you posted.
STRONG>
17 comments:
Bravo UHNOGas!! Now what? Now what are you people going to do to draw business to those stores? You all should be ashamed. You drove away a business without any plan for the consequences. I am sure you figure this is somebody else's problem. When you have a check cashing store front, I hope you look in the mirror with pride.
As for Consolo, good to see him step up so he can use the "I drove business out of UH!" as his next campaign slogan for his mayoral run.
Technically speaking, the busines was not really driven away. If the rules had of been followed from the beginning (zoning) then it would not have happened anyway. So then are we to disregard zoning ordinances that this very city set up themselves so that we could allow activity on land that originally was not intended to be there?
Technically speaking, the busines was not really driven away. If the rules had of been followed from the beginning (zoning) then it would not have happened anyway.
Variances are handed out like candy to favored constituents. It could have happened if a special interest group of NIMBY whiners hadn't hijacked the city's economic future.
Capitalism, the goose that lays the golden egg in outer ring suburbs, flew over UH looking for a place to nest, and UH put out the "NOT WELCOME" mat.
Rest assured, the rest of the business community has been watching. Investors will now look elsewhere. Congratulations.
"Technically speaking" give me a break. I wrote the first comment and we all know variances are granted often or property re zoned. But congratulations, I hope you like the look of your vacant store fronts with no plan for anything else. What genius UHNogas!! Maybe the realtor (Mary Lou) who railed against the project can sell some leases for those properties. The reality is UHNogas will now crawl back into its hole, smug with its success, while the city (with the exception of consolo) and the residents who have some concept of forward thinking and fiscal responsibility continue living with UH's newest eyesore .
BTW, I do have an idea for a new project UHNogas, a Macro & Micro Economics class. You have a lot to learn. Take a certain council person along, apparently they don't take these classes at law school.
BTW, I do have an idea for a new project UHNogas, a Macro & Micro Economics class. You have a lot to learn. Take a certain council person along, apparently they don't take these classes at law school.
He's a labor lawyer, on the union side. He's made a living keeping businesses from making a profit.
Here is why Consolo and Goldeberd take their populist stands, they are both running for mayor and they can grandstand on this issue. They could care less about the community, they just care about their political future. Small wonder people despise politicians!
Hey UHNogas speak up, what is next????
what a catastrophe...no carwash/beverage store/gas station.
Oh, wait a minute...is it too late for a scrap yard for copper pipe?
Bummer.
Maybe something better can come here...something the citizens of our community would welcome.
ralph solonitz
what a catastrophe...no carwash/beverage store/gas station.
No, the tragedy is NOTHING on that land, no investment, no tax revenue, no jobs.
Maybe something better can come here...something the citizens of our community would welcome.
Ralph, in the REAL world, it takes more than pretty dreams; it takes capital, and investors need to see a potential to profit.
The city's meddling with the marketplace has created a situation where Waterway was pretty much the only viable option for the property, and UHNOGas's demagoguery has sent a message to any investor that might find another unlikely viable option to stay away.
What UHNOGas expects there is an fresh omelet shop that doesn't break eggs. Or maybe a unicorn ranch.
Your fantastic musings may entertain you, Ralph, but in the real world, they don't pay anyone's bills. The city's economic woes are real, and Obiwan Kenobi is not going to ride in on Harry Potter's hypogrif wearing the ruby slippers with a phaser that shoots beams of prosperity.
Ralph, get a clue.
"Maybe something better can come here...something the citizens of our community would welcome." And what would that be Ralph? I have yet to see UHNogas, or you for that matter, propose anything. Even if they did, they have no financial backers so it is a mute point. Why don't you stop picking flowers and come meet us in the real world. You know, the world where that "something better" just left. You folks all complain but have no better ideas which can be executed on. Your point on this being just a gas station, while mildly amusing, is also reflective of this communities lack of big picture thinking.
oh I got many clues by reading your responses to my opinion.
Let's see...profit,profit,and profit.
Why don't you guys sell crack...
lots of profitthere.
You know,you don't know anything about me.
I put in 40 hours working at a group home for men with mental retardation...it pays aprox. $10. bucks an hour.
I do that because I find it meaningful.
I'm the child of Holocaust survivors, so I understand reality.
Lots of profit in gold fillings and teeth.
Grow some nads and think about the bigger picture.
There must be something more to offer this community.
You're smart, you have all the answers.
Insulting my ideas because I have a difference of opinion?
you don't know me.
ralph solonitz
Ralph, so what do you propose? I am black and have encountered hardships for years, but that is clearly not the reality I am speaking of, nor am I a victim. I am speaking of solid business plans with financial backing. I applaud your efforts to help the mentally challenged, but who pays for that? Ultimately tax dollars and private funding which can be traced back to small, medium, and large businesses or corporations. It is not all about profit, it is a balance society strikes between individuals and the companies who employ many if not most of them. We as a community need to understand that tax revenue and state funding is decreasing. These sort of business will help alleviate the shortfall. Without it, we will have to vote through a tax which if it fails, and it will as we are one of the most heavily taxes municipalities in the state, programs for children, seniors, and others will need to be cut. It is not about Waterway, it is a bigger picture than that. Sorry, that is reality.
oh I got many clues by reading your responses to my opinion.
Let's see...profit,profit,and profit.
No - commerce, employment, and tax revenue - an active economy that generates wealth.
That doesn't happen unless the people with the resources are willing to come play in our sandbox.
They didn't get those resources by investing them where they wouldn't profit. If we want them to
bring the benefits of their resources to our community, there needs to be a quid pro quo.
Why don't you guys sell crack...lots of profitthere.
Which only serves to demonstrate that you don't know what you're talking about when you say profit is all we care about.
You see, crack dealers don't create jobs. They don't pay taxes. They don't invest in improving property.
If you stepped out of your simplistic poetry, you'd realize that.
You know,you don't know anything about me.
I know what your rhetoric says, and that's all I need to respond to it. I don't care who you are; you made it clear in the other thread you don't care about being realistic. Well, the rest of us have to live in the real world.
I put in 40 hours working at a group home for men with mental retardation...it pays aprox. $10. bucks an hour.
What does that have to do with anything? If everyone in the community copied you, you can bet there wouldn't be enough tax revenue to pay for valet garbage collection. That group home wouldn't exist if we didn't have a free market economy that creates enough surplus wealth to support it. Do you think they take better care of the mentally retarded in Cuba? They don't.
Grow some nads and think about the bigger picture.
We are - the bigger picture beyond your pretty fantasies.
think with something more rational than your nads.
There must be something more to offer this community.
Not any more. UHNOGas has frightened away those who wanted to offer more.
Insulting my ideas because I have a difference of opinion?
Criticizing your ideas because, by your own admission, they're not realistic.
mr. anonymous and b. wagner...glad to see you're still pimping me.Thought you'd be out in the real world hustling some profits to help us dreamers survive.
What keeps such lords of the castle here in University Heights?Shouldn't you both be counting your gold?
Or off on a foxhunt?
Well, I must be off to my
cardboard box for the night to dream more foolish thoughts.
mr. Anonymous,I want to retract any negative comments I may have said to Mr. Anonymous. I reread your words and agree with all you wrote.
Mr. Wagner likes to poke a stick at those that disagree with him. A carwash is not wanted here...why would you put Al Paul in a more vulnerable economic situation?
Because they are in South Euclid?
All I'm suggesting is something more beneficial in the long term.
Having a developer mentality just reduces the ability to sustain our resources and survival.
Back into my cardboard box to count moonbeams and unicorns.
Again, my apoligies to mr. anonymous.
The overriding problem here was that the Mayor and her administration purposely ignored the law. This has been going on for years, and now someone finally caught her. Not only is part of the property obviously a U-3 district (as shown on the City's zoning map published on its web site, but "minute car washes" are an expressly prohibited use in U-7 district, enacted in the 1950's.
I'm all for the project from an economic standpoint, but I think that the City has chosen a very bad location for it. (insert rheortic about limited space, yada yada yada).
Hey Mayor, how about trying to fill up the vacant stores at University Square first?
There's nothing pedestrian friendly
about the University Square space.
Even Marc's isn't interrested in the super market space.
Time for new thinking....the economy is going down the toilet. Billions a week for a 100 year war.The average guy is squeezed ...
time for some progressive thinking for all cities.
Anon from 4/10. You claim the mayor has been ignoring (ie breaking the law) for years. Put your money where your mouth is and go to a council meeting and prove it. Your full of BS with no data behind it. PROVE IT. PROVE IT. PROVE IT. You have nothing. That would make you *dishonest at best*. As for location, your right, the busiest street in UH outside of Cedar by volume is a bad locale. As for University Square, that is privately owned. It is not in the city charter (nor should it be) to fill vacant business locations. Besides, I can tell you from a developer standpoint, the method used for BEP's evaluate the cost of a vacant property vs. the lowest rent price point. It is simply ignorant to say that it is better for the real estate owner to rent to somebody below this cost as something is better than nothing, it is not. Your clueless.
Ralph, thanks for the apology, albeit unnecessary. **As for the new thinking required, what is that exactly, define it.** Calling for change is always nice and fashionable, defining it is the challenge, just ask Obama.
Hey, I had another idea for the UHNogs folks next focus (for those not so inclined to the science of economics), Free Tibet. Yes it is true there are millions dying in other places, but hey, nothing like a stylish cause to get behind!
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