Top Issues

The current planning process for a Town Center is long overdue, and while it was mandated by the State of Ohio in order to receive grants, the level of community participation has been admirable - we have many engaged citizens! Hopefully our input will point the project in the right direction, and meet many needs of the City of North Ridgeville.

However, this project only addresses one corner of the intersection of Route 83 and Center Ridge Road. I see serious potential there, and envision development on each of the four corners, but something that looks like the center of our city. Not chain restaurants or a big box store... think "Madison Avenue, Lakewood" rather than "Crocker Park, Westlake." Keeping Center Ridge Road quaint and not over-developed is of paramount importance.

Previous legal action to restrict home building in North Ridgeville resulted in the ruling that you cannot stop the sale of land, or its development... but there are things that can be done to slow the building of new homes. Like in neighboring cities, we could increase parcel/lot sizes to effectively reduce the number of new builds.

Also, each municipality has the ability to set their own impact fees, and ours currently provide just $250 to Parks and Recreation. As the population grows, these are monies collected for future infrastructure needs like road expansions, and increases to Fire Department and Police needs.

From just the most recent 5,000 houses, a fee of $2,000 would have provided $10,000,000. That opportunity has slipped through our hands, yet there are no shortages of tax levies from the City to pay for these things. That needs to change! 

North Ridgeville is transitioning from a bedroom community to a city of light industrial and commerce, for both convenience and economic benefits. Additional quality restaurants and other stores in close proximity to people’s homes are widely embraced. 

Increased business revenue could be used to supplement local taxes, so the city wouldn't need levies for every project!

My ultimate goal would be to offer property tax relief to seniors, disabled veterans, and larger landowners. Those with property and fixed incomes are hit the hardest whenever a needed levy is approved.

Take a trip with me, down Center Ridge Road... 

We begin a pleasant walk down a sidewalk that starts at Nino’s Italian restaurant. With the addition of a few more family owned restaurants, maybe another microbrewery, and some light retail near Bullfrog's Sports Café, our eastern district continues up the street to Fiesta Jalapeños. That end of the city has been neglected for some time, in favor of development on Lorain Road. 

We continue, strolling past Garden Village, stopping by Mrs. Scott's Sweets and Mootown Creamery. Scooter's Coffee or Between the Bun might be the ultimate destination. Additional retail offering clothing, shoes, and salon services will give people a reason to walk down our "main street" and discover hidden gems.