Council authorizes 2023 road program

by Dan Holland

April 24 work session & May 1 city council meeting

Members of Broadview Heights City Council authorized a resolution to enter into a two-year agreement with Specialized Construction Inc. for the 2023-2024 road program.

According to City Engineer Gary Yelenosky, the bid from Specialized Construction – the only company to provide a bid – came in at $2.59 million. The city has worked with the contractor in past years, approving a contract with the firm in 2020 for two years with a third-year option exercised.

Council previously authorized an appropriation of $750,000 to be spent on the program during 2023.

Streets to be repaved in 2023 include: Ashford Court, Boulderwood Drive, Bramblewood Drive, Eastwood Drive, Harris Road (from Interstate 77 to Old Royalton Road), Loripat Drive, Lydia Drive, Melrose Lane, the entrance to the New Hampton subdivision, Sprague Road (east of Broadview Road) and the Wiltshire Subdivision entrance. Partial repairs are scheduled for Avery and Wyatt roads. Streets on a contingency list – to be paved depending on available funding – include Hamptons Run and Majestic Oaks Trail.

Separately, West Royalton Road will be repaved from Seneca Boulevard to the North Royalton border in conjunction with ODOT, who will handle the construction process. The city’s cost for the project, to include pavement planing, pavement repair, resurfacing, pavement marking, curb ramp and sidewalk upgrades, will amount to $520,522. Work is expected to begin in mid-June, with traffic being maintained throughout the work, according to Yelenosky.

Moratorium on short-term rentals

Council also passed a resolution placing a nine-month moratorium on the acceptance for filing and consideration, review and approval of all new applications for short-term rentals, bed and breakfast inns and Airbnbs in the city. The action stems from a request by the owner of a Joyce Road home at an April 26 planning commission meeting who applied for a conditional use permit to allow for short-term rental. Planning commission rejected the motion by a 3-1 vote.

“There was an applicant who came forward to the planning commission who wanted a short-term rental – an Airbnb – for their residence due to certain circumstances,” Council President Robert Boldt said. “The planning commission discussed it at length. [The owner] was in violation, so the planning commission voted 3-to-1 against it. After the meeting, the planning commission came up with asking council to ban Airbnbs for short term rentals in the residential neighborhoods.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate in Broadview Heights to have a business in a residential neighborhood, and that’s what this is,” Boldt continued. “These are people making business investments, whereas other people living in these neighborhoods have put their life savings into their homes, and there should be a separation of the two. That’s why I’m in favor of not allowing Airbnbs in the neighborhoods.”

Townhomes in residential districts

Council members discussed the elimination of zoning classifications that allow for townhome developments in residential districts during an April 24 work session. A second reading-only of an ordinance to remove B-1 zoning classifications in the city – which allows for clustered townhomes – was read at the May 1 council meeting along with a first reading-only of an ordinance removing B-2 zoning classifications.

Public meetings will be scheduled for the discussion of the elimination of B-1 and B-2 zoning classifications, with a final determination expected to be made by voters on the November ballot, explained Boldt.

“Ultimately, what he would like to do is eliminate any dwellings that use a common wall,” said Boldt. “Going forward, all dwellings would be one single family, and we can get into the definitions as to whether it is a condo – whether it is A-1 – but at the end of the day, we are getting rid of any zoning that has a common wall within the regulations of the zoning districts.”

Council members previously approved a nine-month moratorium on all applications for residential development in the city on April 3.