Bradley land advisory vote protested
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published Sept. 5, 2007

An attorney representing the Westlake Board of Education has filed a formal protest of an advisory vote that City Council is seeking to place on the November ballot. The vote would ask residents whether they want 42-acres of school district-owned land on Bradley Road rezoned for recreational purposes.

The land is currently zoned for residential use.

The city and school board have been haggling over the property, which the city wants for soccer and softball fields, for over a year.

In an Aug. 29 letter to the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, attorney Craig S. Miller of Ulmer Berne LLP argued that the ordinance calling for the advisory election is in violation of Westlake’s City Charter.

The Charter prohibits “any ordinance referring to zoning” from being designated an emergency measure and therefore prohibits such ordinances from taking legal effect sooner than 30 days after passed by City Council, Miller said.

Council passed the ordinance July 6, and the filing for the advisory election was done on July 11.

“As the requisite 30-day period had not elapsed on the date the petition submitting the ordinance to the Board of Elections was filed, the filing was without authority and invalid under the Westlake City Charter,” Miller wrote in his letter,

Miller also called the proposed ballot language “grossly misleading” because it asks voters to rezone the Bradley Road land to a zoning category that does not as yet legally exist. City Council introduced an ordinance creating a public recreation district but has not passed it.

Miller’s letter goes on to argue that the advisory vote not be certified by the Board of Elections.

Robin Leasure, Westlake’s assistant law director, told West Life that the school board’s protest is without merit. The ordinance City Council passed that submits the issue to the Board of Elections is not a zoning ordinance, she said.

“The enactment of (the ordinance) does not effect a change in the zoning code or map of the city of Westlake,” Leasure said. “As a result, the ordinance is effective on July 6, 2007, not 30 days after as stated by the Board of Education. The ballot language as presented to the voters will not effect any change in the zoning code of the city of Westlake. Council is permitted by law to poll the residents on the ‘concept’ of a rezoning to public recreation, prior to actually making any significant changes to the City’s codes or zoning maps. The outcome of the advisory election is of no legal consequence.”

In a press release announcing the decision to protest the planned advisory vote, school board members argued that current zoning of the property allows for recreational uses, thus making the advisory vote inconsequential.

“The Board strongly believes it is in the best interest of our community to maintain the flexibility currently allowed by the present zoning of Bradley Road to allow for further negotiations regarding the property,” the board’s statement said. “It is crucial that the Board not be restricted in the negotiation process concerning the use of the land. The city’s attempt to rezone this property could result in the school district’s inability to use the Bradley Road property for future school needs.”

City Council President Michael Killeen told West Life that he was astounded that the school board would spend public dollars on an attempt to stop an advisory election.

“I don’t understand why the board has a problem with the owners of the property saying what should be done with it,” Killeen said.

He characterized Miller’s arguments as “grasping at legal straws.”

“They’re trying to stifle the citizens from having an impact,” he said. “The only thing this election does is let the people make their feelings known.”

Killeen has said that City Council, which has the authority to rezone the Bradley Road property, would pass a rezoning ordinance and if the advisory vote tells them to. In April, Westlake Law Director John Wheeler told council’s planning, zoning and legislative committee that the city could hold an advisory election on whether to rezone the land for exclusively recreational purposes. The City Charter only calls for a public vote on rezoning matters when the land in question will be changed to include multifamily housing, a shopping center, or an increase in population density, Wheeler said. Because none of these factors apply in the case of the Bradley Road property, a popular vote would only be advisory, the law director explained.

Killeen noted that City Council has repeatedly asked the school board to attend public meetings to discuss the property. However, school board members refused the invitation, saying they did not want to negotiate in public.

The school board has twice rejected the city’s offer of $1.9 million for the property. The school board has city an asking price of $3.59, which the city says is based on a faulty appraisal.

Board of Education President Renee D’Ettorre Wargo has criticized the city’s efforts to rezone the Bradley Road property as an obvious attempt to pressure the school board into a sale.