Charleston Village Society, Inc.

Bill of Blights pt 2. A commentary
Loraine Ritchey, CVSI

Hill's Hurricane- Urban Redevelopemt Tool?

Treasure,Trash or Progress? I woke this morning to the rays of a November sun streaming in the east window of the bedroom. Not wanting to leave the comfort of my bed I turned away from the bright whiteness only to have a golden copper light filter through my eye lids, curious as to the cause I slowly opened my eyes. My neighbor’s magnificent maple tree, whose branches reach across two gardens to fill my north window frame, had caught the morning sun in its turning leaves. The color of new copper pennies as they tumbled from some unseen hand filled the window from a silken purse of a baby blue sky. The beauty of that moment made me want to stay in bed and enjoy mother natures painting even more and to luxuriate in the warmth and light.

The lake breeze caught the leaves and for a moment the ugliness they mask all of spring, summer and fall, came into view. Like the barrel of a gigantic gun loomed the smoke stack of Ohio Edison (First Energy) and its partner, a sputnik like companion, which I assume is some sort of water tower. My thoughts turned from a glorious autumn morning to that of winter and the fact the offending structures would be my winter morning view. Trying very hard to dispel the thoughts of gloom I tried to convince myself that beauty was in the eye of the beholder and somewhere there were probably individuals that could see in the ugliness of the soot covered smoke stack, some grace in the line of structure; maybe they could see a monolithic work of art and space age wonder in the sputnik water tower.

Still reluctant to rise, my thoughts segued to how the gentlemen and his associates, hired by our city, would see our oldest neighborhood when they conducted the “blight study” in the weeks to come. Would they look at the offending smoke stacks and the forest of metal skeletal structures that now surround the old Ohio Edison plant; laid bare to the eye of the beholder since the cherry trees which screened the view were now cut down? (probably due to the fact they could also screen people who wished to do harm). Cherry trees vs. threat of terrorism- the scales aren’t in balance. Would the electric utility on the shores of our beautiful lake be put down on the minus side of the scale so that 51% blight would find an avenue for the city to then “progress”? Had we in the last century come full circle?

“After they died she so cherished the associations of the old home that she felt she could not be separated from them. The old house, each tree, shrub, plant, and flower represented the results of her parents labor" thoughts from Lillian Fox Lyons 1851-1913”

Lillian’s home was on Oberlin and Fox street (now 2nd street.) Almost a hundred years ago Lillian left her home she so cherished and moved to the east side. Why? Could it be that her home stood in the way of “progress”- the new electric power plant? The “progress” of a hundred years ago- did her home stand in the way of a better quality of life for her fellow citizens? Did the threat of “eminent domain “ cause the woman who so cherished her home to leave it? Was that progress now considered “blight”?

The “threat" of eminent domain, looms large over this country it is now the “tool” of progress. Those words took me from my meandering mind wanderings to the fact I had a deadline to meet that afternoon and part two of “Bill of Blights”. Why had I been putting off the article until the last minute? Could I be unbiased in my reporting of the opposite side of the coin to my experience with the Institute of Justice conference and the recent meeting the meeting of Mayors and municipalities sponsored by the Greater Cleveland Partnership? The answered is No! I could not write an article based on clinical observation, the feelings stirred within my head and heart in recent months have put paid to unbiased objectivity of a good journalist. I admit it! I am angry and upset!

Early on a Monday morning in October I attended a meeting called by the Greater Cleveland Partnership. I felt my teeth clenching as I listened to the Mayors, city officials, educators, attorneys as they discussed “eminent domain” As I wrote the quotes. “Mayor Zanotti -Parma Heights- “ In order to do business we have to have the threat of eminent domain, it is a win win situation”! Win for whom I wondered? The people whom I met in Washington who were losing and had lost homes and businesses to this “ eminent domain threat business plan” I didn’t think they looked like winners as I listened to their experiences with blight and eminent domain.

Of course their classification also depended upon other clinical observations by the panel of the Greater Cleveland Partnership. “ Two types of property owner the one that is the economic holdout and the one that is the emotional holdout.” It seems the emotional holdout worries the- powers that be- the most “ you get some 90 year old lady wanting to die in her home, this can cause greater difficulty than the economic holdout”. The Cato Institute stated “Kelo’s (The recent supreme court ruling) SYMBOLIC significance is probably more damaging than its practical application” In other words seeing someone losing their home to private developers may have stirred the average citizen out of our lethargy. But not to worry our legislatures are on the case!

Senator TJ Grendell spoke about his bill (note the bill passed the day after this article was written) and how the assembled Mayors shouldn’t worry as it was a moratorium for two years and “who knows the eventual outcome- but and “I can’t believe I am saying this in public- but get your planners, get a plan down in the next few days because then those will be grand fathered in and if you don’t take advantage of that then shame on you! “ The Senators bill also states that you can still “use” the threat of eminent domain as long as a blight study is in place. So are we placating the citizens with one hand whilst giving those that want to expand their land locked municipalities with the other hand the “threat of eminent domain business tool”?

Readers, I honestly tried to be objective but listening to remarks by Edward W. (Ned) Hill “ a Professor and Distinguished Scholar of Economic Development at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs of Cleveland State University. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Metropolitan Policy Program at The Brookings Institution; an independent public policy research organization in Washington, D.C. Hill edited Economic Development Quarterly from 1994 to 2005. Economic Development Quarterly is dedicated to publishing research on the development of the American economy” – made any hope of clinical observation impossible.

Hill stated in closing that morning to the assembled municipalities from N.E Ohio “ be thankful you are in Ohio and not Florida” (note Florida is amending its constitution to provide that economic development is not a public purpose for which property may be condemned), “ the Mayors in Florida are welcoming hurricanes!” this statement was greeted with guffaws from those assembled. As they laughed on that Monday morning in October Hurricane Wilma was destroying lives and property to the tune of 9 billion dollars. A hurricane, a welcome tool for urban renewal- the laughter sounded hollow and despotic to my ears.

No! Readers, I ceased to be objective in any way and I left that meeting depressed. If this is the thinking of the “distinguished” personages and elected officials in N.E Ohio, what hope do we as mere citizens have left? As for our local situation and the half dozen or so blight studies planned, we can only hope that our city leaders and Community Development Dept have more depth of feeling and concern for homes and welfare of the citizens that support them through their taxes than some that attended the recent Greater Cleveland Partnership meeting.