Friday, July 5, 2024

Cleveland Heights Celebrates Pride

Cleveland Heights' Pride in the Park celebration last weekend was filled with laughter, good food, next-level entertainment, and holding space in Cleveland Heights for loving all. Thanks to the residents and businesses who participated in making Pride a great new summer tradition.

NEXT WEEKEND!

47th Annual Arts Festival to showcase 100+ artists, live entertainment, and food trucks

For more than four decades, the award-winning Cain Park Arts Festival has presented the work of hundreds of artists. This free, three-day juried arts festival showcases artists whose mediums include wood, clay, glass, painting, jewelry, photography, sculpture, and more. Attendees can also enjoy live entertainment, an interactive mural painting for children of all ages, and a variety of food trucks and concessions.

Voted 2022 Best Arts Event in Cleveland by Cleveland Scene Magazine, the Cain Park Arts Festival has been consistently ranked among the top festivals in the country by the national professional artist magazine, Sunshine Artist.

The 2024 Cain Park Arts Festival is in part curated by Northeast Ohio award-winning artist, George Kozmon. His work is represented in prestigious public and private collections including the Cleveland Museum of Art, (Cleveland, OH), the Akron Art Museum (Akron OH), Hyatt Regency (Cologne, Germany), IBM (Armonk, NY), the Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, OH), Astor Residence Hotel (London, England), and the Progressive Collection, (Cleveland OH).

The Cain Park Arts Festival takes place in a municipally owned and operated park in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. A diverse, progressive, vital suburb of Cleveland with nearly 50,000 residents, Cleveland Heights promotes an environment rich in the arts. Minutes from University Circle, Cleveland’s cultural center, Cleveland Heights is a city of exceptional natural and architectural beauty where many artists and artisans call home.

No pets, bicycles, rollerblades or skateboards are admitted. No courtesy vehicles will be in operation during the Arts Festival.

Madagascar, Jr. heralds return of youth theater to Cain Park

Join Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and, of course, those hilarious, plotting penguins as they bound onto your stage in the musical adventure of a lifetime. Based on the smash DreamWorks animated motion picture, Madagascar – A Musical Adventure JR. follows all of your favorite crack-a-lackin’ friends as they escape from their home in New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar.

Full Performance Listing

Cleveland Heights receives AARP grant to fund a design competition for new senior housing option

This week, the City of Cleveland Heights announced it has received a $15,000 2024 AARP Community Challenge quick grant to fund a competition to create designs for the exteriors of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). Winning designs may become Cleveland Heights’ pre-approved standards for the exterior appearance of ADUs built in Cleveland Heights.

Cleveland Heights is exploring altering its zoning code to allow homeowners to build ADUs—small dwellings detached from the primary residences—on their properties.

ADUs are often used as residences for older parents or other family members so they can live independently with the support of their families.

“ADUs present a tremendous opportunity for Cleveland Heights to provide a broader spectrum of housing opportunities,” said Cleveland Heights Director of Planning and Development Eric Zamft. “However, it is likely that there will be some concern about how ADUs fit in and affect our established residential neighborhoods.”

Since they would be additions to existing neighborhoods, Cleveland Heights building and zoning codes would require the plan for each proposed ADU to go through a potentially lengthy design review process before it can be built.

“For families exploring an ADU as a housing solution for an older relative, a long approval process can be the same as a No,” Zamft added. “To make ADUs a viable option for families, we have to shorten the approval time.”

The City is developing a set of standard exterior designs for ADUs that would be pre-approved and available for homeowners. By eliminating the need for design review, pre-approved exterior designs will significantly reduce the time needed to add an ADU to a property. Homeowners could choose one of these plans for their ADUs or propose a different exterior design and go through the design review process.

The City will use the competition funded by the AARP grant to select one or more exterior designs for pre-approval and will share the results of the design competition with the community for its input.

Cleveland Heights was one of 343 grantees selected from 3,300 applications from all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“We are incredibly proud AARP selected Cleveland Heights for this investment to make our community more livable for residents of all ages,” Zamft added. “AARP is a nationwide leader in making communities more livable, and we are honored that they see the tangible value this project will bring to our area.”

Click here to learn more about the projects being funded by the AARP Community Challenge across the nation

Sewer district officials to provide update on Doan Brook restoration project at Horseshoe Lake

From Cleveland.com (no paywall)

Officials from the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District will hold public briefings later this month to update residents on the state of the Doan Brook restoration project near the old Horseshoe Lake Park.

The design team working on restoring the stream that winds through the park along the Shaker Heights-Cleveland Heights border will hold a July 15 online webinar, and two open-house presentations on July 16 at the Shaker Heights Public Library.

The briefings will mark project’s design phase reaching 30% completion.

Those interested in viewing the 6 p.m. July 15 webinar via Zoom must register ahead of time. The two in-person open-houses are at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. and no registration is required.

The years-long $14 million restoration project stemmed from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources ordering the city to drain the lake after determining the aging dam was failing. The sewer district offered to pay the cost of demolishing the dam and proposed restoring channels for both branches of Doan Brook through the former Horseshoe Lake.

Workers on June 26 began drilling to collect soil samples around the lake bed. The samples will be sent to a lab to determine how best to design and construct the foundation of proposed structures such as boardwalks and a pedestrian bridge. The work will continue until July 8, but the park and walking trails remain open to the public.

Feedback needed on Heights communities' Active Transportation Plan

Climate Solutions to be discussed at Cleveland Heights Climate Action and Resiliency Plan Community Workshop

On July 16th, the City is hosting the second community workshop as we develop Cleveland Heights’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan. At this workshop, we’ll explore how best to address local climate impacts and co-create solutions to help our city meet its carbon reduction goals, improve community resilience to climate change, and shape a more sustainable future. Join us and share your thoughts on solutions that will make Cleveland Heights a greener, more resilient community.

Judge's report reveals state of CH housing

From The Heights Observer

By Kermit Lind

Heights Observer readers should take special notice of the report on housing code enforcement by Judge J. J. Costello published in the May issue. In it, the judge reports facts and figures that reveal not only what happens in his courtroom, but what is happening in Cleveland Heights neighborhoods.

Here are some highlights:

97 criminal cases were filed by the city in 2023 to punish housing code violators.
The policy of the court is to prioritize compliance over punishment because fixing housing serves the community more than punishment of property owners.
Convicted violators [have been] sentenced to probation (technically called community control supervision), under conditions requiring the unlawful conditions to be fixed.
In cases where owner-occupants are charged with violations, the court diverts the case and gets the homeowners help from the Home Repair Resource Center in order to avoid prosecuting them.

This orientation toward compliance first is a new strategy in housing courts with forward-looking judges who understand the problems in older residential neighborhoods.

Why are these new measures needed? Judge Costello reports that in 2023 more than one-half of all housing code violation cases were against non-resident owners! This reveals a growing problem in many Heights neighborhoods.

The commercialization of homeownership is a growing challenge to residential sustainability. Seeking profit from homeownership usually depends on low maintenance standards, property tax avoidance, and high turnover of both renters and owners. In addition, business entities are often obscure, evasive and more expensive to regulate than occupying homeowners.

Fortunately, there are responsible investor-owners of housing here in the Heights. Just as much as homeowners who live in their houses, code-complying investors here need, and benefit from, strong code enforcement. Investment in maintaining good rental housing must be protected from the abusive neglect, blight and abandonment of profiteering code violators.

Cleveland Heights Public Works Director presents at Summit in New York City

Cleveland Heights' Public Works Director Collette Clinkscale was recently in New York City presenting at the Rubicon Next Summit. Director Clinkscale (seated, second from right) was invited to present on the panel titled, "Sustainable Waste Streams: Reducing Contamination in your Operations." Rubicon described it as, "(an) advanced panel exploring the use of technology in reducing recycling contamination. Discover how innovative solutions can effectively minimize contamination levels, enhance recycling quality, and promote sustainable practices. Gain insights into the latest technological advances driving improvements in waste management efficiency and environmental impact."

Greek Fest set for Cleveland Heights

From Cleveland.com (paywall)

The Greek Fest is coming up in Cleveland Heights. The cultural fest – which is July 25-28 – will be at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

Meet Patrick, Northeast Ohio's 'Cutest Adopted Cat'

From Cleveland.com (no paywall)

Our “Cutest Adopted Cat” photo contest may be over , and so is National Adopt a Cat Month, which ended yesterday. But your favorite kitty of the litter, “Patrick” has captured the hearts and minds of you, our readers. Just like when Megan Crawford and Dustin Likens adopted him.

The Cleveland Heights couple fell in love with Patrick (who was then known as Sun Sprinkles) after a Cleveland Animal Protective League social media post. It’s a story that is quite familiar to adoptive pet parents from all over Northeast Ohio, with an especially beautiful twist.

Parks and Recreation Programs

Soccer and Camps

Skating

Adult Fitness and Wellness

Other Programs

Upcoming Events

Roller Derby Tournament

Coming to Cleveland Heights

The Guardians Roller Derby Team and the City of Cleveland Heights present the 2024 MRDA Roller Derby Tournament at the Cleveland Heights Community Center, July 20 & 21. Teams from across the United States will visit and compete over the two day tournament.

Registration opens for Shaker Lakes Hike & Run

The Shaker Lakes Hike & Run is on Sunday, September 15, 2024. It includes the following events: 5k Run/Walk, 10k Run, 1 Mile Run/Walk, 1-2 Mile Family Friendly Hike, 4 Mile Rim of the Gorge Hike, 5-6 Mile Gorge Hike, and 1-2 Mile Shaker Parklands Hike.

Crowdsourced Conversations 2024 Survey 3: Our Public Parks

FutureHeights is conducting a survey before the organization co-hosts a series of action-oriented conversations. The topic, selected by Heights community members, for this, it's third community conversation is "Our Public Parks." They are gathering data about what Cleveland Heights and University Heights students, residents, and other stakeholders see as priorities in order to help us generate questions for the upcoming community conversation on the topic.

Lake Erie Ink Teen Programs

Grades 6-8

July 8-12 | 1-4pm | $125

Through hands-on activities, work-shops, and group projects, participants will learn the fundamentals of storytelling, script development, and creative content creation. Participants will have the opportunity to bring their ideas to life and share their creativity with the world. Whether it’s scripting a short film, creating engaging social media content, or developing a podcast, this camp empowers young creators to express themselves and explore the exciting world of digital media.

Grades 9-12

Mondays & Tuesdays | July 8-30 | 5-8pm | FREE

Calling all podcasters and audio storytellers! In this intensive summer workshop just for teens, you’ll report, write and produce a short nonfiction audio story about your life or community… in just four weeks!

You’ll learn how to gather sound, do interviews, pull tape, write scripts… and get an awesome audio story together. Finished pieces will be shared in a special exhibition at the close of the workshop. Participants who complete the program and share their work at the exhibition will receive a stipend. Click here for more information.

Grades 6-12

Thursdays | 6:30-8pm | June 13-July 18 | FREE

Poetry in the Park is a teen program that invites young poets and poetry enthusiasts to come together and express themselves in the serene setting of a local park. This program provides a platform for teenagers to share their original poems, engage in open mic sessions, and participate in creative writing workshops.