by Bruce Checefsky

    

PHOTO BY BRUCE CHECEFSKY

Tuesday, June 27, 2023; Forum to discuss results of the 2023 Cleveland Property Survey, Cleveland State University Levin College of Public Affairs and Education: Ward 13 Cleveland City Council Representative Chris Harsh participates in the discussion about the condition of housing in Cleveland.

Councilwomen Rebecca Maurer, Ward 12, released a statement a few weeks ago about the success of the first comprehensive Cleveland property survey in years.

     “The data is out, and it is stunning,” said Maurer. “Too many families are unknowingly exposed to lead poisoning, leading to significant health impacts on young children. We need to fix this problem with comprehensive data about each parcel. This property inventory will be the roadmap the City can use to address this legacy pollutant and clean up Cleveland.”

     Maurer and City officials plan to use the study to address health and safety issues and increase lead poisoning prevention awareness to reduce childhood lead exposure.

     Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb welcomed the Property Inventory and Assessment findings, saying that many of the properties in the survey have dangerous levels of toxic lead pollution that have plagued Cleveland for decades.

     “With this property survey, we will soon have the data from surveyors who are on the ground, in the streets, identifying where the City can direct its resources to make a difference for neighbors and their communities,” said Bibb. “We are working to identify the ‘B’ and ‘C’ properties that need rehabilitation, not demolition.”

     Exactly how City officials will help with rehabilitation remains unclear.

     Of the 170,000 land parcels, over 7% are vacant structures characterized by cracking, rotting wood, broken or missing windows, missing brick and siding, and open holes, and are demolition targets, according to the City of Cleveland Building and Housing Department.

     The Ohio Fair Lending Coalition and Cleveland State University Levin College of Urban Affairs and Education hosted a virtual forum to review the findings moderated by former Cleveland Councilman Tony Brancatelli. Presenters and panelists included Isaac Robb, Vice President, Western Reserve Land Conservancy; Sally Martin-O’Toole, Director, Building & Housing Department, City of Cleveland; Timothy F. Kobie, Ph.D., Manager Strategic Code, Enforcement Initiatives, Building & Housing Department, City of Cleveland; Frank Ford, Senior Policy Advisor, The Fair Housing Center; and Councilman Kris Harsh, Ward 13, Cleveland City Council.

     “We asked more questions of this survey than any other time,” said Martin-O’Toole. “We can use the results to retool the code enforcement to pivot towards a proactive direction and away from a reactive directive which is how the department has functioned for many decades.”

     The Building and Housing Department intends to take a no-holds-barred approach to predatory investors and hold them accountable with a cross-collaboration of stakeholders to reform existing legislation to modernize and attack bulk investors.

     “Data does not make us smarter, but it does keep us more informed,” said Robb during his presentation.

     The findings showed a continued increase in vacant land in Southeast Cleveland after years of demolition. Between 2006 and 2018, Cleveland spent $72 million demolishing 9,700 abandoned or blighted structures, according to an archived news release.

     Additional resources for owner-occupied housing are needed. Hit by the foreclosure crisis, redlining, and the COVID-19 pandemic, people need support. Research to find owners of vacant structures is compulsory to hold them accountable for back taxes and repair.

     Over two-thirds of the occupied housing stock is pre-1978. Lead hazards are frequent.

     Most out-of-state ownership structures are an ‘F’ Hazardous to “C” Fair, causing concern for City officials.

     “We recognize there is bias in any data collection of this nature, but the possibilities of data analysis are endless,” Robb said.

     Brancatelli called the survey a sidewalk survey. Over 30 surveyors paid $18 – $20/hour graded properties on appearance based on 53 questions without leaving the sidewalk. They spent about two minutes per property.

     Kobie said his department is ready to operationalize the findings. He plans to focus on the C-Graded Structures representing 37% of all parcels, and increase code enforcement to prevent homes from sliding into a D or F. Most C-Graded Structures are in Slavic Village, Lee/Harvard, and North Shore Collinwood.

     Sixty-six percent of occupied structures showed low lead risk, while 64% of vacant structures are risk classified. Areas of Mount Pleasant, Union Miles, and Lee Harvard topped the list.

     “Our next step is to focus on inspecting vacant D and F structures and condemning and razing where appropriate, then pivot to proactive code enforcement,” said Kobie, “which includes occupied C, D, and F properties.”

     Comparatively, in recent surveys in 2015 and 2018 (east side only), occupied structures decreased by more than 9%, said Ford, while vacant and demolished properties, increased.

     “You see fewer vacant structures in 2023 than in 2015,” he said. “Vacant land is on the increase due in part to demolition. Blight, which undermines health, safety, and homeowner wealth, has been removed on the east side.”

     Property grades are subjective, he added. Surveyors see the same thing but grade them differently. Two properties on different sides of the city look similar in condition and can have markedly different grades.

     “You need to approach survey grades with caution,” said Ford. “We should not emphasize the grades. The grades are not the greatest value of the survey.”

     Councilman Kris Harsh, Ward 13, identified two areas of interest for the City Council, operational and legal, and said the data shows which areas need the most investment.

     Balancing the issues is easier with the data at hand. Code enforcement needs to be separated between owner-occupied and investment properties to keep residents from paying too much of the burden. Community Development Corporations offer a lighter hand with code enforcement rather than Building and Housing, which, according to him, is too bureaucratic.

     “I ask homeowners if they need help with code enforcement,” he added, “and let investors know there will be consequences for violations.”

     Harsh would like City of Cleveland building and housing ordinances and laws to include the treatment of Out of State LLCs, separate them from homeowners, and deal with Airbnbs, construction, and permitting. His takeaway from the survey is that Cleveland is one-third vacant. Rightsizing, which can mean eliminating services to largely empty neighborhoods or demolishing thousands of buildings, does not fit his vision. 

     “I believe Cleveland can and should be a growing city by attracting new residents. Cleveland will not look like it did thirty or forty years ago,” he said. “We have to come to terms on how we permit and allow more modular and manufactured housing. We need affordable housing. We cannot build entire city blocks of $350,000 to $400,000 houses.”

     Data-driven decisions do not necessarily result in better overall outcomes or make a decision more or less valid, critics argue, but they can help to break down complex issues. Businesses can pinpoint ideal store locations using data like demographics and traffic patterns to determine the likelihood of success for a particular site before taking on a new investment. Flawed analysis of data can lead to millions of dollars wasted. Poor communication and faulty execution can undermine the process, according to Forbes. Not all data-driven decisions will produce the anticipated results. 

     The City of Cleveland and Western Reserve Land Conservancy Partner for the Property Inventory and Assessment survey cost $170,000. The survey was paid for by Rocket Community Fund, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), and the Cleveland Foundation. To watch the forum, see here: