It’s been almost two months since the voters of South Euclid voted to approve the rezoning of the defunct Oakwood Club and allow developer Mitchell Schneider make productive use of that privately owned land. Most of the local world has moved on. Fran Mentch said her weepy piece. The commenters at the Plain Dealer website did their post-mortem. Construction has begun at Oakwood.
But there is one sore loser who just can’t let go: Garry Kanter. For the last few weeks, he’s been begging for help to launch a suit against the city of South Euclid to prevent construction of Oakwood. He’s been on the “Citizens” for Oakwood’s facebook page, the Cleveland Heights Patch, and now his letter has been published in the Sun Messenger. From what I can see, even the activists who oppose development at Oakwood are maintaining a discreet silence – afraid to say what they really believe: this guy is 75 cents short of a dollar.
Let’s talk about the substance of Garry’s rant: Garry says that the zoning at Oakwood is unconstitutional. He also brings up the Shemo case. For those who don’t know, Shemo was the developer who wanted to build the Costco in Mayfield Heights. Some residents were opposed to it, so they pressured the city to deny the zoning variance. Shemo sued the city and won, the Costco got built, and I’d bet money that most who were opposed to the Costco are now members. Garry says that the situation with Shemo and Oakwood are not comparable because the Costco site was a barren field next to a highway and Oakwood is a green space. But those distinctions are irrelevant. Why? Because the very attempt spearheaded by the anti-Oakwood group to get South Euclid city council’s zoning change overturned backfired when the citizens of South Euclid voted in favor of rezoning. The issue was placed on the ballot, the people voted. But the vote didn’t turn out the way Garry & Fran wanted. At least Fran has had the sense to move on and focus on the Cleveland Heights portion of Oakwood, which will need a zoning change if the senior housing Schneider wants built is to go forward. How do I feel about Schneider’s plans for the Cleveland Heights part: I think it’s a great way to retain residents in an area that has been shrinking in population. And that’s the last I’ll say about it, because that’s not my town and not my business. I’ve said my piece. Time to move on to other issues, like trash collection and recycling, and figuring out who on the new council and on the planning board is going to be naughty and who’s going to be nice. And what’s the next plan of attack from South Euclid’s perpetual critics?
You see, Garry’s problem is he just can’t let go. He doesn’t know when it’s time to stop. Judging from his appearance, he doesn’t know when to push back from the table at the end of a meal either. And as a dedicated Heightster, he can’t handle the fact that the people of South Euclid made this decision for themselves and actually had the gall to defy the wishes of a few activists in Cleveland Heights. HOW DARE WE?!
Follow up December 29:
True to form South Euclid Oversight has published Garry Kanter's and Fran Mentch's letters: http://southeuclidoversight.blogspot.com/2011/12/sad-year-for-oakwood.html
Also Garry Kanter is posting comments on the Sun Messengers' web page under one of his many sockpuppets. See the original link for up to date comments.
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