Rain Barrels and other stuff

Sorry, I've been missing in action on the blog for a while. Things get pretty busy, and if it's a question of how to spend my time, I'd rather spend it answering constituent phone calls (which can take a while.)

If you saw the Sun Messenger article or the Channel 3 News story about the pending legislation to allow residents to attach rainbarrels to their home downspouts, I'd like to add some info that might not have been included in the stories:

1. SMALL GARAGE? IT'S ALREADY ALLOWED. The South Euclid housing code as it stands today doesn't require that downspouts be connected to the storm sewer on detached garages smaller than 500 square feet, as long as the water coming off the roof doesn't create a nuisance for a neighbor. SO, until we change the code to allow downspouts on houses to feed into a rain barrel, you can still install one (or more) on the garage if it's within the size limitation.

2. OVERFLOW TO STORM SEWER? ALREADY ALLOWED? All rainbarrels can (and probably should), in any case, include an overflow outlet near the top of the barrel that sends extra water into the storm drain once the barrel is full. It seems to me that if you install a rainbarrel with the downspout coming into the top of the barrel and the overflow going out through a continuation of the downspout into the drain, you ought to be legal already, since the code just says "connected to a public storm sewer."

3. SO WHY CHANGE THE CODE? My purpose for introducing the revision to the code is to make the language clearer about allowing people to install rainbarrels to downspouts on homes and larger garages, and also giving them the option to forego the overflow into the storm drain if they would rather direct the overflow to a garden, rain garden or pond, as long as it doesn't pose a flooding problem for the neighbors.

4. WHAT'S THE GOAL HERE? The big thing that rainbarrels, or other means of diverting storm water from storm sewers, do is reduce streambank erosion and stream sedimentation. When large amounts of rain rush into storm drains, the volume and speed of the water can overwhelm the sewer system and, more damaging, when the extra flow runs through streams can erode the banks and put sediment into the water and the lake. That's bad for aquatic life. In some cases, where sewers still have combinded sewer overflows (CSO) the storm water can mix with the sanitary sewer flow (from toilets) and put bacterial and other nasty stuff into the stream and lake...that's why we have so many "no swimming" days at nearby Lake Erie beaches.

The other benefits of catching and storing rainwater include:
- Feeding garden and house plants with rainwater is better than giving them stuff with chlorine and flouride and other chemicals they use to treat tap water;
- You can save a bit of money...tap water isn't free, although people keep saying it is (don't they get a water bill? I do.)
- Rainwater is softer than tap water and great to wash your hair with.

5. WHAT ABOUT MOSQUITOS? They bite. But they can only breed and go through their life cycle in open, standing (and usually shallow, but not always) water...so as long as the barrel is covered, they can't lay eggs. You can also use safe pesticides (or goldfish) to control the larvae. If the overflow goes to a pond, you're already, I assume, doing something to keep the pests under control.

FYI, here's how the South Euclid housing code reads now:

1405.20 MAINTENANCE OF ROOFS, GUTTERS AND DOWNSPOUTS.

All roofs of every structure shall be maintained weathertight and shall be equipped with gutters and downspouts connected to a public storm sewer. However, this requirement shall be waived for existing appurtenant structures if, in the opinion of the Building Commissioner, the drainage does not cause excessive erosion or water damage or does not create a nuisance on public or private property.

1405.25 SECONDARY OR APPURTENANT STRUCTURES.

(a) All secondary or appurtenant structures such as sheds, barns, garages, etc. shall either be maintained in good repair and free from health, accident and fire hazards or shall be removed from the premises.

(b) All roofs of every secondary or appurtenant structure shall be equipped with gutters and downspouts connected to a public storm sewer. However, if the roof area served by a specific downspout does not exceed 500 square feet, measured horizontally, and the drainage does not, in the opinion of the Building Commissioner cause excessive erosion or water damage or does not create a nuisance on public or private property, this requirement shall be waived.

Point-of-Sale Inspections etc.

Dear Friends,
I’m writing to ask for your input on a few issues before council. I’m also asking that you make your opinion known, preferably by coming to council committee meetings on the issue, or general council meetings, where the public can make comments. A schedule of upcoming meetings is at the end of this post.

The first issue is Point of Sale Inspections. There’s been a lot of incorrect information out there about our proposed legislation, and most of the reactions (including those expressed in the recent Sun Messenger editorial) are based on bad information or misunderstandings.

We are proposing that before the sale of a home can be completed the owner would pay (about $175, which would fund the additional personpower and paperwork) for an exterior-only inspection of the house. These inspections would be the same type of exterior inspections we already require, no more and no less. Any objections about inspectors entering homes are baseless, nor is there anything in the legislation about repairs inside the home. We will continue to do regular door-to-door inspections, starting the cycle again in 2008 and continuing whether point-of-sale is in place or not, and our inspectors will continue to respond to neighbors' complaints and cite high grass and weeds.

Our primary reasons for requiring an inspection at point of sale are:
• For homeowners without the funds to make repairs while they live in the house, the time when money is being transferred may be the only time when such funds are available. This addresses the objection that low-income owners or elderly residents can’t afford repairs. At sale time, the buyer can assume the responsibility for the repairs, or the seller can use the equity that comes out of the sale to make repairs.
• Too often people sell their home a year or more after the scheduled regular inspection, and in the interim there are new violations that haven’t been addressed. The buyer or seller may hire a private inspector and find out about possible violations, but there is no official city inspection that comes with a requirement to repair them. Other times the buyer pays for a house not knowing that there are violations, then at the next regular inspection he or she learns that repairs are necessary, and the funds may no longer be available.
• The current trend toward low- or no-money-down sales allows buyers to purchase homes without the funds to fix the house if violations are found later. These homes often get resold quickly, again without repairs being made. What’s left is a rundown property that pulls down the values of the properties around it.

If violations are found at point of sale, there are various ways that the repairs can be made and paid for:
• the seller can pay to make the repairs and include the repair cost in the price of the house, or
• the buyer or seller, or both, can put funds for repairs in escrow as part of the transfer, and as repairs are made the funds are paid from escrow, or
• the buyer can assume responsibility and deduct the cost of repairs from the purchase price.

CABOR (Cleveland Area Board of Realtors) has said they have no objection to this exterior-only program, since it’s something we already have in place.

There is no comparison to be made with programs in Cleveland Heights or Shaker, since theirs are both exterior and interior inspections.

The majority of council, and the mayor, see point-of-sale as an effective tool to raise the level of home maintenance and the quality of life in our neighborhoods. The message it will send is: “You can’t let your property fall into disrepair and lower the property value of your neighbors’ homes.”

The next issue is also about keeping up the quality of our housing stock. We are working on legislation that says you can’t use sheets or newspaper as window coverings. It may seem a small thing, but it’s important that we set and keep standards. It’s a shame that we have residents who care so little about the community, and that we have to address the problem with legislation, but that’s the way things are.

The third piece of legislation is about public health. I’ve proposed anti-idling legislation that would make it a violation for diesel trucks and buses to idle their engines for long periods of time. The fine particles in diesel exhaust contribute to asthma and other respiratory problems.

The law would not apply to gasoline vehicles, or emergency or service vehicles that need to run their engines to power service equipment like refrigeration units. It would not apply when the outside temperature is below 32 or above 80 degrees, and there are other exceptions to provide for the health and safety of drivers and passengers.

My hope is that we can eventually follow the lead of the city of Cleveland, which has a policy that none of its city vehicles, gas or diesel, police cars included, may let their engines idle. They’re saving a fortune in gas money and keeping the air clean.

SO...here is the schedule of upcoming meetings. I hope you’ll either attend or write to me with your input.


2/26/07 – 6:30pm WINDOW COVERINGS
7:30pm ANTI-IDLING
8:00pm FULL COUNCIL MEETING

3/12/07 - POINT OF SALE INSPECTIONS

WARD 4 MEETING - MARCH 28, at 7:00pm at the Community Center.

FYI, Council meets the second Monday each month, no meetings in August.

Thanks for your time!

Winter, finally

Hi, all. Happy New Year.

With the first snows of 2007, I want to remind everyone of South Euclid's snowplowing system. Crews started last night, even before the first flakes fell, salting intersections so that the stuff wouldn't stick where we're most likely to slide. Then, as the snow builds, they do the main drags, roadways where there are higher speed limits and more traffic lights, since those are the most dangerous areas. They leave a base layer of an inch or two of snow, which, they say, gives more traction than clearing down to the pavement and then having the surface freeze. Then they tackle the side streets, where people are supposed to drive SLOWLY anyway.

So if your street hasn't been plowed as quickly as you'd like it, all I can say is drive carefully, and know that the trucks are out there and they'll get to your street as soon as they can. Remember, our motto is "safety first, convenience next."

If you have a complaint, I encourage you to call the service department at 216-381-0402. If you get the machine, leave a message with your phone number.

Speaking of safety, 'tis the season to be alert and aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. If you haven't had your furnace checked in a while, do so. It'll keep you safe and save you money on gas if your furnace is burning clean and efficiently.

Make sure your fire alarm is working, too. Space heaters can be a major cause of house fires. Make sure you keep yours away from curtains and be sure it's not going to tip over.
Don't overload your electrical system, either, 'cause that can start its own problems.
If you use your fireplace, make sure the chimney's been cleaned so that old creosote stuck to the walls doesn't ignite.
And, finally, make sure you have enough of the right kinds of fire extinguishers in the right places. The code on the extinguisher tells you which kind of fire it puts out: "A" with a green triangle is for paper, fabric, garbage, wood, etc.; "B" with a red square is for flammable liquids like gas, kerosene, liquid fuels; "C" with a blue circle is for electrical fires. So you want an "A" that's accessible by the fireplace, a "B" near the kerosene heater and the kitchen, and a "C" in the office or wherever you've got all those wires tangled together. Some extinguishers are multi-purpose. Just be sure the ones you have are big enough. Fire grows fast, and the little weenie ones can leave you standing in front of a growing disaster with an empty extinguisher.

Also, remember that it's the homeowner's responsibility to clear the sidewalk in front of the house. So be safe, and stay warm, and if you can, help a neighbor shovel his or her driveway and front walk.

Missing posts

If it seems as if I've been missing in action, I'm sorry. Some of my posts seem to have been lost in the ether as soon as they're posted. Try, try again.

I've been getting lots of questions about Cedar Center, especially since the newspaper stories about the developer from California pulling out of the deal. I want you to know that your city government is still committed to making the new Cedar Center a reality. It's going to happen. There are other developers who are interested in doing the project, and doing it well. That location is hot. That's why Whole Foods chose it, and the retailers at University Square, too. It's the last buildable corner in the middle of what the demographics folks see as the center of a dense population with money to spend. This is a bump in the road, but we're still moving forward.

Tonight at council meeting we said goodbye (actually "see you later") to police chief Matt Capadona. Matt's retiring and taking on the job as head of security at Notre Dame, so he's not even leaving town. I wish him well. Now we'll have to find someone else who knows how to work that temperamental grille at the community center.

I hope you'll come to the Ward 4 meeting at 8pm on October 25 at the community center. We'll be announcing the winners of the Gorgeous Gardens Awards. At 7pm, please come to an energy forum, to learn about alternative energy, energy conservation, and ways to cut your winter heating bills.

Be well,
Jane

My vote on Stoneridge

City Council voted on two new developments on Monday night.

Cutter's Creek will have different styles of attached townhomes, including ranches, in the woods at Anderson and Green. I voted for that one without unmanageable regret. I wish the homes didn't have to be so close to the creek. I hope the trees grow back quickly. The diocese owned the property, insisted on selling, and at least it went to a developer who pays attention.

Stoneridge is the one that's been getting all the attention lately. It's to be sixteen detached cluster homes tucked in behind houses on Monticello, Trebisky, Ammon and Azalea, where it's now wooded, shrubbed and wetland. The neighbors were either angry about losing their wooded backdrop or eager to sell their backland to the developer.

I voted no on that one. Not because of the angry neighbors but because of the design...it's going to be a clump of little houses amid a sea of grass, which is the worst possible way to use the land. I wouldn't have objected if the design was about leaving the woods and offering wooded lots around the new houses. But grass is as bad as paving, possibly worse since all the fertilizer, pesticides and weed killers they'll use to keep the grass green will rush across the surface and into a big pipe at the bottom of a funnel and run headlong into the creek. That's poisoning the waterway. Period.

I also believe, based on lots of data, that taking out the forest will not just lower the property values of the homes on large lots that surround this project, it will have many adverse impacts on the air quality and flooding issues of the whole neighborhood.

The language in our building code for Planned Unit Residential Developments says this:
"The Planning Commission shall review all proposed planned unit residential developments, giving particular consideration to the design and layout of the development to ensure that:
(1)Buildings and uses within the proposed development are located so as to reduce any adverse impacts on and to protect the residential character of areas adjacent to the development.

They'll be leaving a whopping 30 or 40 feet of trees around the edge of the development. That's the depth of my house, hardly enough buffer to block the view. Big deal.

As I said at the meeting, something's going to be built there. Whoever owns the property has the right to build. But those particular woods are not just big weeds, they're community assets. In that particular place, where this is the last remnant of woods, and wildlife habitat, taking them out so completely will have serious adverse impacts on the whole surrounding area – unlike Cutter's Creek, which will still be surrounded with woods.

A lot of the council vote had to do with the fear of getting sued if we put too many restrictions on the plan. Mayfield Heights got sued and lost big time when the guy who built the Costco wanted them to change the zoning from residential to commercial and the city didn't have a good plan to back up their refusal. That case didn't involve a PURD, it was land adjacent to other commercial buildings, and it's not the same situation we were facing. But fear of litigation held sway.

My vote may have been merely symbolic, but symbols can be important. I just thought you'd want to know why I voted the way I did.

Good Neighbors...and block watchers wanted

I keep saying "If you want a good neighborhood, you have to be a good neighbor." People tend to nod, and agree, and then way too often they follow up with ten reasons why they can't, won't or just don't reach out to the folks who live nearby.

I admit I find myself avoiding the folks in one of the houses across the street. Their kid gets picked up in the morning by a woman in an SUV who honks the horn. Loudly and repeatedly. The grownups there have completely killed what was, just a couple of years ago (before they bought the house) a gorgeous garden and luscious lawn with a beautiful japanese maple. The tree is dead, the lawn is completely weeds in mud, the picket fence is trashed and the garden is scary.

Since it's been hard for me to catch these folks at home, I haven't done my neighborly duty. Yet.

And now that I'm ready to admit that I have limitations (stop laughing...I heard that) I'm begging you - YES, YOU! - to step forward and say you'll br captain of your block watch. All you have to do is contact me. We'll set up a time for a block meeting, I'll reserve a meeting room and make flyers, we'll distribute them to your neighbors, and get a Block Watch working.

Please?

Summer's here

Hi. I'm in the process of dropping off the latest edition of the 4th Warder newsletter. With more than 2000 households in the ward, it takes some time. If you just can't wait, you can download it as a pdf file from my page on the city's web site...http://www.cityofsoutheuclid.com right away.

And if you'd like to help out by dropping the newsletter to the homes on your street, PLEASE email me (or add a comment to this blog) to volunteer.

So...I'd like to welcome the two new members of the Planning Commission, recently appointed by Mayor Welo. Mary Doria Russell (yes, the author) and Falanda Collins are both residents of Princeton Rd. in Ward 1. Come to think of it, two of our council members (Simon and Gray) also live there. Wonder if there's something in the water there that encourages public service. Hmmm.

I've been getting more than the usual number of "help" calls from people who want me to intervene in neigbor issues. My hope is that folks can talk to each other and resolve things first, before calling me or the police. How are we going to build neighborhoods people love to live in if we can't even talk to each other? I say that to have a good neighborhood, you have to be a good neighbor, and sometimes that means being a good example to the neighbors who don't play ball. And don't give up.

Fun Day will be July 29 this year, at Bexley Park, and it's looking like it'll be a baseball game between city employees and a traveling entertainment team, then music and fireworks. The daytime activities won't be part of the day this year. We're trying something new, with limited funds. We have to pay for our own fireworks this year...no, I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

The recycling committee will be selling a new canvas tote/shopping bag with graphics created by yours truly. The bags will be available starting in July. Look for them at city events and buy one (or more) to support the committee's activities.

If you run a homebased business, or know someone who does, we want to list you in the new online directory. We want to encourage people to keep their dollars within the community, and this will help residents find the product or service they need while helping our neighbors. Email me for a listing form.

Okay, gotta go water the garden, drop some newsletters and pick up stuff to fix the garage (TJ says I have to repaint it and fix the little door...I don't get special treatment, that's for sure!)

Jane

Fire pics

In case you missed the excitement, on May 22 the South Euclid Fire Department had a training session, using a house on Green Road to practice their skills. The house at 2032 S. Green, was donated by Dr. Shelly Senders, who will be building his new pediatric facility on the site. Crews from Lyndhurst and University Heights also took part in the training. It was pretty darn impressive.

Spring Green

Hi, all. Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I promise to do better in the future.

It's been that kind of month. I always think of May as the month when everything changes: the colors change from brown to green and all the colors of the rainbow, the air changes from dry to wet and cool to warm, the ground changes from soil to grass and, too quickly, weeds. Kids rush to finish school. Parents rush to arrange their summer schedules. Workers rush to schedule vacations. Things seem to accelerate from hibernation to full speed in an instant.

This year, city council has been in overdrive as well. We've had so many new developments and new initiatives to study and process, it's as if the city's suddenly awakening from a long sleep. We've always known that South Euclid's location makes it a wonderful place to live, now others are realizing the same thing.

We're in the process of updating our comprehensive plan, the document that looks at the layout of our city, describes which areas are zoned for what, identifies where we'll put new businesses and homes, and suggests how we'll revitalize existing neighborhoods. It's the map of our present and the directions we'll use to travel to our future.

The plan shows where we'll focus new mixed housing and commercial developments – Cedar Center, Mayfield-Green, Monticello-Green. It indicates where we'll put new homes and residential development clusters (the easy stuff). It also marks the older neighborhoods where we'll buy the most deteriorated homes and open their lots for neighbors to expand their homes, add an office to the garage, or leave green pockets for breathing space (the harder stuff).

What the plan doesn't include at this time is a vision for our greenspace. That's about to change. As a part of the update, we're including a mission to develop a greenspace/openspace plan. Just as we decide where buildings should go, it's critical that we also define where buildings should NOT go, and how we might do a better job of fitting human space into the natural infrastructure – letting the natural systems that are already in place manage the way water flows, for example. As more and more developments consume more and more green space, we need to take a moment now, before all the open space is built upon, to say how much of our community will remain green. Whether the space remains forest or field, park or shrub-filled wild, we need to recognize the value of these spaces and plan for their management.

Much of what makes South Euclid a pleasant place to live is the green that surrounds us. It's our proximity to Euclid Creek and the abundant flora that surrounds it. It's the canopy of trees that arches over our streets, shades our homes, cools the ground, sucks up the waters, provides homes for birds and habitat for wildlife, and pleases our senses. Before we "pave paradise and put up a parking lot," as Joni Mitchell sang, we as a community need to decide how we'll keep our community as green as it is today, and what kind of spaces we'll leave to future residents.

First, we need to respect the health value of greenspace and trees. Aside from the basic fact that green plants are our only source of oxygen, and the only things that remove carbon dioxide from the air, studies have shown that surgery patients who could see a grove of deciduous trees recuperated faster and required less pain-killing medicine than matched patients who viewed only brick walls. And prisoners with cells overlooking green landscapes used prison health facilities significantly less than prisoners whose cells provided views of other prison facilities.

Most significant are studies from the University of Illinois' Human-Environment Research Laboratory showing that "the presence of vegetation and green-spaces can strengthen social ties in a neighborhood, reduce levels of aggression and violence, and help people cope with everyday stress. In one of the more startling findings, researchers found that crime rates actually go down in neighborhoods with more vegetation--the opposite of what many policymakers had in mind when they ordered bushes cleared and trees cut down to decrease crime.

Some of the lab's most noteworthy research has shown that raising and teaching children in a green environment can put them on the path to success early in their lives. One study showed that interaction with nature significantly curtailed the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Another showed that girls who can see nature out their home windows are more capable of concentration, impulse inhibition, and self-discipline." (American Forests, Autumn, 2002.)

This is just to say that humans and communities are always healthier – emotionally, spiritually, psychologially, physically and, yes, economically – when we live with nature instead of always trying to eliminate it, or engineer it to work our way. Nature is a vast infrastructure; it's a system, just like the sewers and water lines and mechanical systems we build. A tree in the right place, usually the west side, will shade a house, and the cooling it provides will lower your air conditioning bills. Plantings on the north side of a house will give shelter from winter winds and cut your heating bill. A garden of water-loving plants at the low point of your yard will absorb the pondwater that accumulates in heavy rains and keep it from flooding into your basement.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't cut down any trees. When we decided to live where forests once grew, we assumed the responsibility of caring for the green we keep. Just like humans have a defined life expectancy, just as we age and eventually die, so it is with trees. Many of the trees in our city are at the end of their lifecycles. But unlike humans, who reproduce themselves and nurture new generations, urban forests don't act like "real" forests. We don't always let them seed their progeny and replace themselves. We don't let them fall and decay to enrich the soil and feed their young as would happen in a normal forest.

A forest isn't just trees, it's also the wetlands and waterways and open spaces and the edges where new growth takes place. It's not just the big tree canopy, either. It's also the understory trees, the shrubs that grow berries and native plants that grow seeds that wildlife count on. We have to manage all these resources. Sometimes it's best to let the forest be. Sometimes it's better to take down older trees before they fall, let the young trees below get air and sun, or replace them with new trees that are more amenable to life in the urban environment.

Nature is always trying desperately to return to this original state. The land we live on was originally a vast forest, primarily of oak and hickory, but including one of the most varied collection of maples, hemlock, tulip trees and many many other species. Some areas were wetlands, and sometimes big chunks of the forest would fall and leave open areas for new forests to grow. Consider all the maple seeds that litter the driveways and streets and the keys – whirlybirds – that fill our gutters. That's the maple trees trying to plant new generations. Weeds, too, are nature's way of returning to a state of balance, where roots hold the soil and filter the water and leaves catch the seeds that grow the plants that feed the birds and animals that carry the seeds to plant anew.

This brings me back to the greenspace plan (convenient, huh?). I invite everyone with an interest in how our community grows – pun intended – to write to me and make your voices heard.