LYNDHURST, Ohio — Mayor Patrick Ward delivered Monday (May 19) his fourth biennial state-of-the-city address following a brief City Council meeting held at a different-than-usual location, the Lyndhurst Community Center.
It was not an address that broke news, but rather one that mainly enumerated on positives, such as how well the city is operating, and the work of its employees.
Fittingly, it came to a close with Ward stating, “Your City Council, our employees in all of our departments and I are proud to serve you in every way possible and it is so much more than that — we want you, our residents, to be proud of our service, to regard living in our community of neighbors as a privilege, so when you say, ‘I live in Lyndhurst,’ your friends and family will think ‘Wow!”
Following his talk, Ward took questions from residents in attendance, with the first of the four questions he received pertaining to a subject that has lingered in Lyndhurst news for nearly six years — the future of the Cleveland Clinic property, 1950 Richmond Road.
It was in June, 2019, that Cleveland Clinic announced it would sell the scenic property and relocate its 400 employees. The Clinic, which received the property as a donation from its former owner, TRW, in 2002, then announced in spring, 2023, that it would demolish that fall the 480,000-square-foot, two- story building that once served TRW.
For six years, Ward and others in Lyndhurst have wondered what will become of the 98-acre site, as the Cleveland Clinic has yet to make a sale or announce plans.
“I did have a meeting with them (Cleveland Clinic) last week,” Ward answered. “I told them in April I was having this session and knew that it (the property’s future) would be a question because this question comes up every year.
“They don’t have a plan yet. I think they do, but I don’t think it’s something that has been articulated to their board. My hope is that there is some use on some of the property for the Clinic, and some use on some of the property for housing.
“I think that would be a really good win for Lyndhurst. I think it would be a good win for Legacy Village (the property’s neighbor directly to the south) because we don’t have the ‘live’ (dwellings) piece at Legacy. They’ve toyed with it, we’ve toyed with it, but they (Legacy Village) just don’t have enough space to be effective with it.
“So, if we were to add a live component that close, I just think it would be spectacular.”
“To the west of Legacy Village we have a little community called The Woods. It’s very similar topography (to the Clinic property) and it is just an extraordinary place. It’s just beautiful. Built in the ’70s, and you wouldn’t know it. It’s just gorgeous.”
In answering another question from the audience about the possibility of Lyndhurst adding affordable housing at the Clinic property, Ward noted that the property is still owned by the Cleveland Clinic and it is, as of now, for the Clinic to decide what will become of it.
As for the address, key subjects included:
— Ward said that the city “remains in solid financial health and maintains a Aa2 (Moody’s) bond rating.
“Our income is steady. My team presents our council conservative budgets, and they analyze each line-item ask carefully. Once Council approves the final budget, I and our departments get to work stretching each budgeted dollar as far as possible.”
— Speaking about home values and taxes, the Mayor stated, “Home values in Lyndhurst and our region remain strong and demand in Lyndhurst is still robust, which is great, but we do hear about property taxes quite often.
“I do want to point out that for every dollar you and I pay in property tax, our city receives about 12-and-a-half cents, and for that 12.5 cents we try provide you $1.25 in service value.”
— The cost of waste disposal.
“What I find extraordinary is that our cost to provide our residents refuse and recycling service — including yard waste and weekend rubbish service — is only $18.64 per dwelling, per month, and we factor in our fuel, disposal fees and equipment replacement cost. Eighteen dollars and 64 cents per month? Let’s see the private sector compete with that.”
— A coming August event remembering the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
“At the end of August — the 28th, 29th and 30th to be exact, thanks to our Lyndhurst Police Foundation, we will host the ’9/11 Never Forget Mobile Exhibit’ from the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, open for student groups and the public — which will culminate with a very special patriotic concert, after the exhibit closes, featuring the Diamond Project Band.
“Our young people need to be shown the history of the events that fateful day, Sept. 11, 2001, and how it forever changed our America. This exhibit has not been in northern Ohio since 2014, and the farthest north was Medina.”
— About restaurants coming to Lyndhurst, Ward said, “To complement our amazing Italian restaurants, Asian Fusion at Wild Mango, authentic Thai at Bangkok Thai, we have recently opened Bubble Wave Café, serving Bubble Teas and other wonderful treats, Sunay’s Turkish Café, serving authentic and delicious Turkish and Mediterranean dishes, Tous les Jours Café (5268 Mayfield Road), a South Korean franchised French bakery, and we will soon become the Hibachi epicenter of the world with Yami Express fast food Hibachi next to Pet Supplies Plus, Toko Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar at the site of the former BW3 (5433 Mayfield Road) offering casual dine-in and take out, and then at Legacy Village we will soon have Shinto Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar with 17 Hibachi stations, and so much more.
“Truly an exciting world dining experience scene right here in Lyndhurst.”
— And freeway safety.
“Speaking of road safety,” he said, “many residents may have noticed the work under way on I-271, which will flip the ‘slip lanes’ off of and onto the express lanes, as well as widening our Cedar/Brainard exit ramp.
“This project, insisted upon by Pepper Pike Mayor Rick Bain and me, is moving on an accelerated timeline because of our safety concerns and horrible accident history. We appreciate ODOT’s assistance in this important improvement.”
In closing, Ward added, “It is truly my honor to serve you as mayor. I hope you know that I come to work every day excited to address the challenges and opportunities that present; to solve problems and to, at least, provide resources for those issues our responsibilities cannot directly affect.”
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