2023 Annual Report

A message from Executive Director Mary Cierebiej, AICP

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission continued to receive awards for its project work while its staff members pursued involvement in issues of importance to the greater region.

• The American Planning Association- Ohio Chapter awarded the  2023 APA Ohio Planning Award  for Comprehensive Planning/Large Jurisdiction to the  Lakefront Public Access Plan . This plan offered tangible steps to curb erosion along the 32-mile shoreline of Lake Erie in Cuyahoga County while providing increased public access to the lake.   
• The First Suburbs Consortium of Northeast Ohio presented the Inaugural Ken Montlack Visionary Project Award 2023 to the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission for the  Single-Family Zoning Analysis , which identified specific zoning changes necessary to streamline the process of building infill housing on vacant sites in Cuyahoga County’s inner-ring suburbs.

• Alison Ball, Planning Initiatives Specialist, was named the 2023 Conservationist of the Year by the Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District for her tireless efforts on behalf of projects that improve the natural environment of Cuyahoga County.

• Paul Triolo, Planner, was a member of the Cleveland State University graduate class project team that was awarded the  2023 APA Ohio Planning Student Showcase Award  for the Balancing Broadway project which focused on enhancing the vibrancy of the historic downtown district of Lorain, OH through connectivity, cohesiveness, and commerce.
• Nichole Laird, AICP, Senior Planner, was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority to its  Community Advisory Committee . This committee recommends service and program improvements, fare changes and long-range plan updates, and helps to develop and implement public relations campaigns.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission has worked to achieve its mission through equitable community planning. Guided by our core values—inclusion, collaboration, communication, accountability, respect, and excellence—our goal is to inspire all of our communities to thrive.

Our agency underwent a rebranding exercise with the goal of creating a cohesive, high-quality identity and visual representation that better reflects our  Vision, Mission and Core Values . Through a lens of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, we worked to ensure that our new logo and branding are accessible to all, including those with color blindness and utilized a standard color palette to reduce costs of reproduction across all printed and electronic formats. Our team was very engaged and enthusiastic throughout the process and we are extremely grateful to the Studio Chartreuse team for leadership in this effort.

In 2023, we took part in important regional planning efforts that provide clear roadmaps for future growth.

Producing plans for the natural environment, recreation, and healthy activities is one way that the County Planning Commission contributes to improving community life in Cuyahoga County.

Our work on behalf of Cuyahoga County communities allows us to bring our expertise to projects that help those communities address their needs.

A standard component of planning is to assess the sentiments of a community’s residents. The  Pepper Pike Community Survey , commissioned by the city of Pepper Pike, asked several questions to glean community sentiment regarding the quality of life, quality of city services, and quality of community amenities including trails, facilities, and recreation initiatives.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission is often a go-to resource for County agencies and departments seeking land use advice, research, and visual representations of space requirements and mapping for projects.

• In 2023, our project work for the County Department of Development focused primarily on housing services. We assisted with the development of the federal PRO-Housing Grant application that will remove barriers to affordable housing. If successful, this application for funding will change the lives of citizens of Cuyahoga County who have been left behind in the housing market.
• Our inter-Agency Agreement with the County Department of Housing & Community Development provided our professional planning services for the Environmental Record Reviews for HUD-funded projects.
• We provided continued assistance to the County Department of Development for the CDBG Competitive Municipal Grant Program with GIS and planning technical assistance.

Our GIS Research and Information Services are second-to-none and we are called upon often to provide these specialized services to Cuyahoga County in support of regional initiatives for economic development and growth.

Together with other county agencies, the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission assisted  NEOFIX , a new vital infrastructure designed to provide commercial drone operators with real time navigation assistance. The NEOFIX relies on GIS data for flight operations, security, deconfliction, and mitigation. The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission provided detailed 3D locations for “obstacles” such as tall buildings and towers as well as locations of “potential ground risks” such as schools. 

The opportunity to contribute to federal policy is a call to service that the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission is honored to deliver.

At the invitation of the American Planning Association, Executive Director Mary Cierebiej was one of two Ohio representatives asked to participate in a multi-day Congressional Fly-In event in Washington, D.C. She attended meetings and workshops with Senate and Congressional leaders and staff to provide insight on the practicalities of supporting federal action on zoning reform to encourage housing development.

Executive Director Mary Cierebiej took part in advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C. to fund the PRO-Housing Grants in FY2024 through the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Spending Bill. This advocacy included providing input about housing shortages across the country and discussions about how to make housing attainable and equitable for diverse communities by considering the removal of barriers to housing production.

In addition to our large-scale planning work, we provide specialized services and research to help advance projects throughout Cuyahoga County and its communities. This includes targeted land use analysis, data analysis of demographic characteristics, and applying GIS tools to show the natural environment and population of Cuyahoga County with interactive maps.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission provides technical assistance on matters relating to zoning, land use, or annexation when requested by the administrators of townships in Cuyahoga County. Our work also involves administering Cuyahoga County's Subdivision Regulations for all subdivisions of land within the townships of Cuyahoga County.

In 2023, subdivision development continued in Olmsted Township and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, with the assistance of other reviewing entities, provided recommendations to Olmsted Township for the development of subdivisions.  

In 2023, the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission's administration of state and local grants brought millions of dollars in funding to public infrastructure and environmental projects in Cuyahoga County.

Our  board membership  is defined by Ohio law and consists of eight mayors representing regions of Cuyahoga County, the County Executive, and two County Councilmembers. This representative group provides direction, approves expenditures, and advances the work of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission.

• University Heights Mayor Michael Dylan Brennan, representing the Heights Region
• County Council Representative Yvonne Conwell, representing Cuyahoga County Council
• North Olmsted Mayor Nichole Dailey Jones, representing the Westshore Region
• Cuyahoga County Department of Public Works Director Michael Dever, representing the County Executive
• Parma Heights Mayor Marie Gallo, representing the South-Central Region
• Cleveland City Planning Commission Director Joyce Pan Huang, representing Mayor Bibb and the Cleveland region
• Brook Park Mayor Edward Orcutt, representing the Southwest region
• Warrensville Heights Mayor Bradley Sellers, representing the Chagrin/Southeast Region
• County Council Representative Sunny Simon, representing Cuyahoga County Council
• Newburgh Heights Mayor Gigi Traore, representing the Cuyahoga Region
• South Euclid Mayor Georgine Welo, representing the Hillcrest Region

We welcomed four new board members at the beginning of 2023: Mayors Dailey Jones, Gallo, Traore, and Welo; and said goodbye to three board members as they completed their terms at the end of the year: Mayors Brennan, Sellers, and Traore.

The Cuyahoga County Planning Commission's final approved budget in 2023 was $3,008,937, which included $950,000 in funds dedicated to the Healthy Urban Tree Canopy (HUTC) Grant Program. Personnel expenses were the largest expense and included salaries and benefits. Contractual obligations and grant funding for the HUTC program were County Planning's second-largest combined expense, while approximately $40,000 was appropriated for basic operations.

The County Planning Commission received the funding it needed—primarily from the Cuyahoga County General Fund—to lead innovative planning projects and initiatives and provide professional planning, zoning and technical services, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping and analysis.

Thank you for allowing us to share this overview of our recent activities and accomplishments. We look forward to further collaborations in 2024 and beyond as we work together to inspire Cuyahoga's future.

2079 East 9th Street, Suite 5-300 Cleveland, Ohio 44115 216-443-3700  www.countyplanning.us