CLEVELAND — Some mobile homeowners living at Cleveland's Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park have now started a petition drive, collecting support from neighboring residents, hoping they won't have to move out within the next 18 months.
The 26-acre parcel along Lake Erie was purchased by the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which announced it would like to turn the land into a park that would then be turned over to the Metro Parks. The non-profit agency has said repeatedly the property is in need of some $6 million in electrical, sewer and water system upgrades, which if implemented, would drive rent costs up so dramatically few tenants could afford to stay on the property.
But more than 100 homeowners living at the mobile home park, who pay and average of $390 a month for rent, have been asking the conservancy to seriously consider a compromise plan that would call for the creation of a park, but also allow them to stay on part of the property.
Heather Malone, who is a 12-year Euclid Beach park homeowner, told News 5 she and other residents started a petition drive on March 2, collecting signatures of support from neighboring residents.
“Compromise with us and see if there’s another way of going about this, instead of just displacing us," Malone said. “We already have over 3,640 signed saying they are about us being able to stay here.”
Malone said she looks to submit the signatures to Cleveland City Council and the land conservancy in the coming weeks, hoping it will trigger serious talks in the search for a compromise plan for the property.
On March 6, some mobile homeowners met with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland to discuss the need for more talks with the land conservancy and possible legal options.
Michael Russell, attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland is hoping the land conservancy will give residents more specific information on how high rent would climb if infrastructure improvements were made.
"What they’re interested in is an open, transparent, collaborative process," Russell said. “They want Western Reserve, other stakeholders like Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and the Metro Parks to come to the table to engage with them, to share information so that every opportunity that exists to preserve this affordable housing is pursued and exhausted."
Russell said he believes it's not in good faith to avoid serious talks on an alternate plan that would keep residents on the property.
“It’s deeply disappointing to hear from a public-facing non-profit that a group of people shouldn’t be listened to because they have no legal standing to force us to listen to them," Russell said. "I think we should expect far more from our non-profits here in Cleveland.”
However, Matt Zone, Senior Vice President of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, said homeowners have been kept up-to-date with the developing situation. Zone said considerable resources would be made available to mobile homeowners to make the transition to another home.
“Not only will they be compensated for fair market value of what their units are worth, but we’re going to help them with moving expenses and the costs associated with that," Zone said. "Tenants will be issued all the resources they need and be given the dignity and respect they deserve in relocating their homes. Once that happens, Northeast Ohio will be left with another lakeshore gem, by conjoining 4 park areas, similar to Edgewater Park."
Zone referred News 5 to an "open letter" published last week on its Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan web page.
Please know that we have and will continue to proceed with conviction knowing we have engaged the community in a meaningful, thorough, and thoughtful process. Along with our many partners, we fully understand this is a project that must be managed with the utmost compassion and respect, and we are committed to doing so. We want you to know:
- Plans for Euclid Beach were not formed hastily. The planning process, which began in February 2022, was led by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Greater Collinwood Development Corporation, Cleveland City Councilman Mike Polensek, and Western Reserve Land Conservancy. These project partners, and others, have been engaging with the Greater Collinwood community and the residents of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community (EBMHC) for more than a year.
- Addressing the concerns and needs of the residents in a compassionate and fair manner is a top priority for all project partners. To complete the recommendations of the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan, residents of the community will need to transition out of the property by September 1, 2024. The project partners along with a diverse list of additional, local nonprofit agencies will work diligently with the tenants to connect them to housing resources and provide supportive services.
- The land represents a prime lakefront location, ideal for public use, yet it is disconnected and underutilized. Cleveland is often and perhaps rightfully criticized for not doing enough to make Lake Erie more accessible for everyone. In fact, there have been five other planning efforts over the last 75 years that made the same recommendation of the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan: consolidation of Euclid Beach, Villa Angela Park, and Wildwood Marina into a single, unified open and accessible public park. This is a unique opportunity to finally make that “big idea” into a reality and do so in a responsible way.
We are aware of misinformation that was recently spread regarding the carefully planned proposal for the future of Euclid Beach Park, and we want to make sure you have the facts.
- Western Reserve Land Conservancy bought the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community in 2021. Councilman Polensek contacted the nonprofit in March 2019 to ask for its involvement after the prior owner reached out to him about selling the park to a new owner to turn the property into high-rise apartments or a commercial retail center. We were bidding against private developers when we bought the property. Had private developers – likely from out-of-town – acquired the property, the new owner would have had the legal ability to close the mobile home community with only 180 days of notice, the minimum amount of time as required by law. If that scenario happened, it is most certain that the EBMHC would now be closed, residents would be out with no concern for their financial situation or welfare, and the site would be under construction for new high rise apartments or another unwanted use.
- Similarly, Western Reserve Land Conservancy could have closed EBMHC and provided 180 days’ notice to residents to vacate the property. Instead, it made significant upgrades to the mobile home community, froze rent increases for 14 months, and pledged to residents that no change in their tenancy would occur until after the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan was developed. In multiple tenant-only meetings, the Land Conservancy made it
- Western Reserve Land Conservancy bought the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community in 2021. Councilman Polensek contacted the nonprofit in March 2019 to ask for its involvement after the prior owner reached out to him about selling the park to a new owner to turn the property into high-rise apartments or a commercial retail center. We were bidding against private developers when we bought the property. Had private developers – likely from out-of-town – acquired the property, the new owner would have had the legal ability to close the mobile home community with only 180 days of notice, the minimum amount of time as required by law. If that scenario happened, it is most certain that the EBMHC would now be closed, residents would be out with no concern for their financial situation or welfare, and the site would be under construction for new high rise apartments or another unwanted use. Similarly, Western Reserve Land Conservancy could have closed EBMHC and provided 180 days’ notice to residents to vacate the property. Instead, it made significant upgrades to the mobile home community, froze rent increases for 14 months, and pledged to residents that no change in their tenancy would occur until after the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan was developed. In multiple tenant-only meetings, the Land Conservancy made it clear to residents that it would honor and implement the final recommendations of the Euclid Beach Neighborhood Plan.
- The Land Conservancy is not pursuing this project to make money or to develop the land; all of their efforts are focused on creating a transformational new park on the shores of Lake Erie. Their mission is to restore and conserve land and to improve environmental conditions that uplift all communities of people. Despite the risks presented by acquiring this property – which after decades of neglect by the previous owner had been left in a dilapidated state with significant and costly sewage and water issues – Western Reserve Land Conservancy decided to make the acquisition because it was the right thing to do, both for this community and for the residents on site. The Land Conservancy went at great financial and reputational risk and secured the property for public purpose and use, now and for future generations. They operate EBMHC at a significant financial loss every month. Western Reserve Land Conservancy has provided the residents with an extraordinary amount of time and notice they otherwise would not have had, and with unprecedented resources to help them pay current and past-due rent, lower their bills, improve their conditions, and now to compassionately and generously assist them with relocation
services.
- It is simply not possible to relocate the residents into another section of the park. To do so would result in prohibitively expensive infrastructure costs that would not be affordable to the residents and would not allow for the creation of a public park along Lake Erie’s shoreline on the east side of Cleveland
The Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park neighborhood group will have its next meeting on March 23 as they still hope an alternative plan will become a reality.
News 5 will continue to follow this developing story.
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