Mayfield Village, Ohio

Mayor Bruce G. Rinker and the Village Council welcome you to Mayfield Village.

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Index

Summary

Chapter1

Chapter 2

Chapter3

Chapter 4

Chapter5

Appendices

Executive Summary

As the Cleveland region continues to decentralize and people and jobs move further from the city center and its near-in suburbs to less developed areas, communities in Cuyahoga County will need to continue to reposition themselves to keep residents and jobs in their communities. Recognizing the need to stay current and adopt a development strategy for the community, Mayfield Village leaders appointed the 2020 Vision Committee and retained D.B. Hartt, Inc. to assist in the development of a new master land use plan for the community. The Mayfield Village 2020 Vision Plan recommends an overall strategy for guiding future development and collective action for preserving the community’s quality of life. This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of the full plan contained in this report.

Based on the input of the Committee and discussions within the community, the benefits or strengths of the community can be characterized as:

» Community stability as represented by a strong level of homeownership and good mix of retail and other support services for local residents.

» Quality public school system serving the communities of Gates Mills, Highland Heights, Mayfield Heights, and Mayfield Village.

» Quality local park system and proximity to Metropark’s North Chagrin Reservation.

» Public/private partnership with the Mayfield School District, regional government agencies, and local businesses.

» Strong Village financial position and leadership allows strategic acquisition of private property to support Village development goals.

Discussions with the Committee helped to identify the weaknesses and/or challenges facing the community and are summarized below:

» The Village is bisected by I-271, creating challenges to connectivity between the main part of the Village and the southwest quadrant, Worton Park, which is segregated from the rest of the Village by the highway.

» Auto-oriented downtown center with many buildings that would benefit from redevelopment with cohesive design scheme.

» Beta Drive industrial area and some commercial areas are experiencing vacancies and there is a need for strategies that will promote economic reinvestment in the community.

Finally, when asked to identify key factors that will help to further enhance the community and/or provide opportunities to the Village that are unique to the community, community members acknowledged the following:

» SOM Center Rd. improvement project represents significant major investment and has been guided by the Village so as to achieve urban design and transportation objectives.

» Location of Village facilities in proximity to each other and the Village’s retail center lends itself to supporting the development of a Village Center.

» Long time business owners in the Village could be important partners in the process to redevelop the community.

» Existing bicycle/pedestrian segments can be expanded on to improve the walkability and the bicycle-friendly quality of the community.

Strategies Recommended for Action

The 2020 Vision Plan Committee recommends the following list of priority “actionable items” (identified as “Near-term” and “Longer-term” activities) to the Village’s elected officials, key public/private leaders, and its residents. Strategies that should be pursued over the course of the next several years are identified below as “Ongoing and Future Investment Opportunities.” The Committee urges current and future elected officials to refer frequently to the entire plan report for policy guidance on land use, economic development, and infrastructure investment decisions in the coming years.

Near-Term Activities (within 3 months)

1. Village Council must adopt the 2020 Vision Plan as the consensus report on development policy and strategies to guide future decision-making relating to infrastructure investment and private development.

2. Dedicate a Community Development staff position as a means of accomplishing the key actions described in the plan and to assure that the Village works collaboratively with neighboring communities on joint initiatives while also pursuing the full range of outside funding sources that would assist in making the 2020 Vision Plan a reality.

3. Work with a design/architectural consultant to provide the Village with a detailed development plan for the Village Center that would incorporate retail/housing development projects with the Village’s goal of providing a municipal government campus at the SOM Center/Wilson Mills intersection. Design guidelines should be provided to guide the visual integration of the various future private and public investments that are desired for the Village Center.

4. Appoint a Committee to find an interim user (for 5 years or so) to lease the former Methodist Church facility, now owned by the Village, to assure an economic use of the property until the Village is in a position to commit to preserving and adaptively reusing this “focal point” building.

Longer-Term Activities (within 12 months)

5. Appoint a task force to lead in repositioning and marketing the Village’s commercial/industrial areas—targeting the Beta Drive industrial area as a priority. The task force should also work with Village officials to amend the current zoning for this area as recommended in the plan report.

6. Adopt a strategic plan for use or disposition of Village-owned property that would provide a concise inventory of land owned by the Village, identify proposed uses, and adopt policy guidelines for term of ownership and proposed disposition strategies.

7. Conduct a market demand assessment relating to commercial uses in the Village Center that would provide private developers with key data relating to the economic feasibility of investment in the Village—this could be used as a marketing tool to secure redevelopment by current owners or to recruit new development partners.

8. Settle on a plan for addressing the Village’s government facility needs and adopt a preferred strategy to provide for those needs—the analysis must include a realistic assessment of costs/benefits associated with various scenarios.

Ongoing and Future Investment Activities

9. Enhance the livability of the community by encouraging new development supportive of a more pedestrian-friendly and connected community through Village investments, in partnership with private developers, to provide linkages between retail/residential areas and to better connect residents to existing public facilities.

10. Continue to provide for diverse housing types to accommodate expected demand for this type of lower-maintenance housing that is increasingly appealing to “empty-nesters” and others looking to remain in the community.

11. Preserve and improve the commercial base of the community while working to preserve the residential neighborhoods from commercial encroachment.

Chapter 3 provides the full report of the adopted community values, future goals, and the recommended policies and strategies that comprise the complete Mayfield Village 2020 Vision Plan.