WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — The City of Willoughby passed a measure Tuesday night that added a new housing development in the area.
Some Willoughby residents have made their opposition to the development known.
Extended Housing Inc. proposed Windermere Village, which would be built on property currently behind the McKinley Community Outreach Center. The center serves about 200,000 pounds of food a year to about 2,000 households in western Lake County.
Pastor Mike Currier said he got the idea a few years ago not only to feed and clothe those in need, but also to help with housing, and he said that is where Extended Housing Inc. comes in.
"Their whole function is to take people who are struggling emotionally or mentally, who could easily be homeless, maybe have been homeless or could be homeless because of their struggles, come up alongside of them, give them support and help, find them safe, affordable, clean housing,“ Currier said.
But some residents in the neighborhood oppose the plan. Jeff Malecki is concerned about flooding in his yard; he’s had problems for years and is worried the development would cause more flooding problems.
"If they build on it, then you end up with all the stormwater, it's going to flood us out because it’s not naturally coming through,” Malecki said.
Bill Collins has lived in the north Willoughby neighborhood for more than 30 years. He said it's a good project in the wrong neighborhood and called on city council members to listen to residents.
"They need to listen to the community. They are representatives of our community, not representing the developers," Collins said.
Terri Reichert lives right next to the property. She said if it passed, which it did, she will find a new place to call home.
"I don’t want to have to move out of this neighborhood, but if it [does], my house is going up for sale," Reichert said.
Currier said he believes there is a lot of misinformation about the project.
Norburt Sanek wants to make sure that the McKinley Community Outreach Center isn’t part of the deal.
"We want to maintain the history of it. We want to make sure the back lot, which is vacant, it used to be the playground, goes to the contractor and the front lot, where the actual building is, the actual outreach stays," Sanek said.
Currier says that the building is not for sale.
I found out about this story because several residents emailed me. If you have a story you think I should know about, email me at carloss@wews.com.
