Council Hears Public On Lakewood Hospital

Council President and Ward IV Councilwoman, Mary Louise Madigan called the January 20, 2014 meeting of Council to order at 7:38 P.M. Council began the meeting by making a number of appointments to boards and commissions including the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Board of Nuisance Abatement Appeals, and the Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board.

Council then considered an ordinance that would update the City's parking codes, specifically in relation to parking limits for businesses. Beginning the process in August, the discussion as to what changes should be made included Council, the Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, the Building Department and several meetings with the public. In her comments Councilwoman Madigan said that the impetus for these changes was the Community Vision which was passed last year. The goal was to align the City's codes with the Community Vision while at the same time making it simpler, and easier to understand. The new codes includes both minimum and maximum parking for businesses based on on their square footage, as well as intensives for including features such as permeable pavement and landscaping.

Council passed the ordinance.

The Council moved up an item on the agenda since a number of members of the public had signed up to speak on it. The item was a letter from Mayor Summers regarding a letter of intent from the Cleveland Clinic, Lakewood Hospital Association, and the Lakewood Hospital Foundation regarding the future of Lakewood Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic has announced that it will be closing Lakewood Hospital and transitioning the site into a wellness center which will include out-patient facilities and an emergency room. Councilwoman Madigan wanted to make it clear to the audience that this is just the first step and there is a long way to go. She mentioned that there would be two public hearings plus a number of other official meetings, many of which will be open to the public, and that they would be keeping the people up to date a long the way.

Councilwoman Madigan also apologized on behalf of the Mayor for his absence. He was invited by Marcy Kaptur to be her guest to the State of the Union address in Washington D.C.

Despite the fact that the auditorium was full of people, only five members of the public were signed up to speak. They all spoke of concern and disappointment at the reality of the hospital closing. People also seemed quite disappointed at the City's ability to prevent the situation from happening, blaming both the Mayor and Council. One individual said that he and his wife who had lived in Lakewood for 37 years had considered moving a number of years ago but decided to stay in part because there was a hospital nearby. Concern for the loss of the City's largest employer and the 1.5 million in taxes they bring to the city was also raised. Besides the direct tax impact, there are secondary tax and residents loss to consider. One resident mentioned they were afraid the loss of revenue for the City would eventually impact City services, specifically those of our safety forces. It also seemed to be a general belief that the Clinic systematically gutted the Hospital of services over the years in order to make it no longer solvent, giving them leverage to close it.

In regards to the Clinic's plan to buy part of the land from the City, who currently own both the land and the Hospital, one resident said the City should not sell it so that the City can maintain some revenue in the way of rent from the Clinic. There was also concern shown in regards to the new building that will be built:“The Clinic buildings are always glassy, white, and shiny, Lakewood is a brick and mortar community, other buildings along Detroit such as Walgreens and CVS were mandated to blend in with the architecture of the surrounding community,” said a resident.

Council referred the letter to the Committee of the Whole for discussion.

Next, Director of Planning and Development, Dru Siley, submitted an ordinance that will begin the process and discussion of the City selling the McKinley School site. He said the projected project still has a few more meetings to go through with the Planning Commission and the Architectural Board of Review but the sales agreement puts them another step closer to moving forward with the project.

Council referred the ordinance to the Committee of the Whole.

Director Siley also asked Council to consider an ordinance to rezone the McKinley School site, which is currently zoned for a school, limiting the current development of the property. The new zoning would open it up to land development.

Council referred the ordinance to the Planning Commission for consideration.

Coming to the end of the agenda with no announcements from the Administration or Council, Council President Madigan adjourned the meeting at 8:32 P.M.  

Christopher Bindel

I have been a Lakewood resident my entire life and have been covering the Council meetings for the LO since March of 2009. I am a Mayoral appointee to the Citicens Advisory Committee, a Council appointee to the Board of Zoning Appeals, I am on the Board of Directors for Pillars of Lakewood, and president of Eaters of Lakewood.

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Volume 11, Issue 3, Posted 1:20 PM, 02.03.2015