Monthly Meeting Updates: July/August 2010

Over the past few weeks, the Board of Zoning appeals, City Planning Commission, and the Design Review Committee met to discuss various issues that were brought before them:

Board of Zoning Appeals
(Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @1:30pm)

• Case No. 10-05 -- Randall Courdriet appealed for a variance at 414 Rhoda to reduce the rear syard set back from 9ft to 4ft and to increase the maximum size of an accessory building from 770 sq ft. to 1016 sq ft. The Board approved this measure.
• Case No. 10-06 -- Joseph A. Salus appealed for a variance at 595 Carlotta Dr. to reduce the side yard setback from 8.2 feet to 3 feet to build an attached garage. The Board approved this measure.

City Planning Commission
(Tuesday, July 20, 2010 @2:00pm)

• REF No. 3-10 -- Fred Schulte requested to establish a regulated use, identified as a second-hand store, within a 500 ft. radius of another use. The property is located at 1701 Mahoning Avenue in a business district. The Commission recommended to City Council that this measure be approved.

Design Review Committee
(Tuesday August 3, 2010 @9:00am)

• Case No. DRC 10-17 -- Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA) proposed the reconstruction of concrete areas at WRTA's Federal Station at 340 W. Federal St. The Committee voted to approve this measure. 

Paper copies of the official meeting agendas can be requested from the City Planning Department, located at 9 W. Front St., 3rd Floor, Suite 315.

Monthly Meeting Updates Series

In efforts to provide the public with information about activities within the city, the CDA Communicator will provide monthly updates about issues addressed before the City Planning Commission, the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Design Review Committee. Each of these entities meets once monthly, and official agendas and attendance lists are on file for public record at the Department of Planning. Articles on the Communicator will summarize the issues and indicate the entity's decision on each.

The City Planning Commission is an advisory committee to City Council in matters of land use and planning. Amendments to the zoning map, ordinance, street dedications/vacations, annexations, and detachments all go through the Commission. The Commission then makes recommendations to Council. A resolution passed to Council by the City Planning Commission takes a super majority to reject and a simple majority to pass.

The Board of Zoning Appeals is responsible for making interpretations of the zoning ordinance. Zoning code ordinances allow for some variances. The Board has the power to accept or reject proposals for specific variance requests brought to their attention.

The Design Review Committee reviews all proposals to change the aesthetic appearance of the center city. The Committee reviews proposals for new development, redevelopment, and improvements to existing facilities to determine whether or not they meet city standards. The Committee has the ability to accept or deny a proposal and/or to make recommendations.

Parkview Gardens in Full Bloom: An Update on Lots of Green

In only a month's time since the Communicator last reported on the subject, lots of progress has occurred on the YNDC's Lots of Green pilot program in Idora Neighborhood. Several of the neighborhood's newly planted community gardens are in full bloom, and neighborhood residents and youth are busily watering plants and trees while contractors continue to deconstruct dilapidated homes to make way for expansion.
 
Lots of Green is an initiative to re-utilize vacant land in Youngstown for productive green space uses including reforestation, passive green space, expanded yards for residents, community gardens, and other practical purposes. YNDC hopes to use the successes of  Lots of Green to create a workable model for sustainable vacant property reclamation that can be implemented to in neighborhoods all across the city and in other communities nation-wide.

So far, this program has been a great success. Over 75 neighborhood residents are active participants in the gardens and hundreds have become involved in the program as a whole. Over 115 lots have been affected

In the video above, Ian Beniston, YNDC's Assistant Director, talks about the Lots of Green program and progress in one of the neighborhood's larger gardens, Parkview Neighborhood Garden.

CDA Proposes Gray to Green Project to EPA

Today, the Community Development Agency is submitting a project proposal application for the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Showcase Communities grant. The Climate Showcase Communities Grant Program's goal is to fund programs that "create replicable models of sustainable community action that generate cost-effective and persistent greenhouse gas reductions while improving the environmental, economic, public health, or social conditions in a community."

Youngstown's proposal, titled Youngstown Neighborhood Transformation: Gray to Green Project is a comprehensive program aimed at making inner-city neighborhoods in Youngstown healthier, greener, and more sustainable through three primary activities: deconstruction, home energy-efficiency retrofitting, and vacant lot reclamation. This project proposal will tackle the larger environmental problems of greenhouse gas emissions and solid waste management by building community partnerships, generating jobs and stabilizing struggling neighborhoods on a tight, efficient budget.

The Gray to Green program proposal will expand upon the existing partnership between the CDA, YNDC, Global Green USA, MVOC, MYCAP and Mill Creek MetroParks to accomplish its objectives. All six organizations have committed to match the funding request with well over the required amount of in-kind revenue and volunteered staff time during both the planning and implementation phases of the project.

Gray to Green, not to be confused with the Grey to Green Festival (though certainly related in outlook) will target its three activities in several declining inner-city neighborhoods across the city in hopes to build a replicable implementation model for deconstruction, vacant lot reclamation, and housing retrofits that can be employed in other neighborhoods across the city and in other cities struggling from neighborhood instability and serious environmental concerns.

President of Global Green Visits Youngstown

Matt Petersen, president and CEO of Global Green USA, visited Youngstown on Tuesday and met with local government officials to talk about Global Green's plans to help the city improve its efforts to go green. Global Green is a comprehensive, environmentally-focused nonprofit organization that addresses some of the "greatest challenges facing humanity," especially through its efforts to provide a safe, clean, and sustainable living environment to communities. Global Green works with governments, nonprofit organizations, education systems and other local groups to help them find practical, affordable strategies for making environmentally conscious development decisions. They also help organizations secure funding for initiatives that help to accomplish these goals.

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Global Green stepped in through its Holy Cross Project and helped to build a low-cost, environmentally-friendly housing development within the city. Global Green also retrofitted schools in New Orleans with practical weatherizing and energy-efficiency improvements that are saving the city tens of thousands annually on utility costs. Global Green is based in Los Angeles and also has offices in New Orleans and Washington DC.


Petersen expressed to city council that he believes Youngstown has the potential to become a model of sustainable redevelopment for the entire Midwest; and possibly for the nation. Global Green is committed to assisting city government and local organizations by helping them acquire resources and develop strategies to improve sustainability within the community. They are currently working directly with the Community Development Agency to produce a report that investigates the carbon footprint of both city government and the city at large. Upon its completion, this report will help city officials figure out how to operate more efficiently and save money on energy costs. Global Green has also begun discussions with local community organizations in order to partner with and compliment their environmentally-conscious efforts.

For more information about Youngstown's partnership with Global Green,  take a look at the The Vindicator's December article.

Public Meeting to Discuss Hubbard Arterial Ammendment at the Covelli Centre

A public meeting will be held on Tuesday June 29th at 5pm at the Covelli Centre in downtown Youngstown to discuss a potential amendment to the Eastgate 2030 Long Range Transportation Plan. The City of Youngstown asked Eastgate to amend the plan to include the Hubbard Arterial Project.

The meeting will be used to discuss the amendment process and to gather public input. For more information, please check the City of Youngstown Website and the Vindicator report.

Idora Neighborhood Transforms Vacant Property into Lots of Green

What were once blighted buildings and weed-covered lots are now being transformed into tilled topsoil and fertilized planters for fresh produce in Idora Neighborhood on the south side of Youngstown. Bulldozers can be seen working at vacant sites all throughout the neighborhood, leveling and preparing land for conversion to gardens and public green space.

Idora Neighborhood is a test site for Lots of Green, a project initiated by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation (YNDC) in order to "[transform] the challenge of unmanaged vacant land into neighborhood assets." The process involves the systematic removal of derilict buildings and the reclamation of vacant lots in targeted neighborhoods. These lots, in turn, are adaptively re-used and converted into a wide range of public green space uses, based upon the specific needs and interests of the neighborhood.

In Idora, YNDC has joined forces with the Community Development Agency to get the neighborhood's blighted homes and buildings systematically deconstructed and demolished using federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding. YNDC also raised funding to cover the cost of the plants, trees, tools, and landscaping needed to transform these vacant lots into productive space.

In total, the Lots of Green project is in the process of recovering over 125 neglected properties interspersed throughout Idora Neighborhood, converting them into assets instead of liabilities. Approximately 150 lots will be improved by the time the project has been completed.

These lots are being re-purposed for a wide variety of different uses based closely on interests of the neighborhood's residents. Lots adjacent to Mill Creek Park, which borders the neighborhood on three sides, are being returned to the forest for the park's expansion or converted into rain gardens to reduce water pollution and soil erosion. Smaller sites located between houses are being leveled for passive green space or as side lots for neighbors using native plantings and special low-maintenance grasses. Some of the larger locations are being used for raised-bed community gardens where neighbors and the public are welcome to adopt space and plant produce. On Mineral Springs Road, a large lot is being set aside for the Mineral Springs Demonstration Farm, and urban agriculture project that will include community space. One site is even being used as a research garden for Ohio State University.

This community-based, institutionally-supported project falls directly in line with the Idora Neighborhood Plan, a community planning document for the neighborhood's redevelopment. The plan recommends that blighted, vacant space should be re-used for productive,purposes that engage the community. Both the Idora plan and the planting initiative directly follow the guidelines of the Youngstown 2010 CityWide Plan, which calls for the reclamation of vacant land for green space in order to reduce blight, improve neighborhood conditions and right-size the city for a smaller population.

Lots of Green in Idora is another example of why Youngstown is being looked toward as a model of sustainability. This initiative is drawing attention for its use of community-based planning strategies and because of its innovative and comprehensive approach to neighborhood stabilization. If successful, it will serve as a model for future efforts of revitalizing vacant property throughout Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley.