Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 24, 2022

SOLON, Ohio -- One day after City Council approved agreements that will allow construction of the Solon to Chagrin Falls Trail to move forward, Mayor Ed Kraus spoke about another trail project the city hopes will become a reality as well.

During his annual State of the City address Wednesday (Feb. 23), Kraus discussed the citys interest in acquiring land for a trail on the former Norfolk Southern rail line.

Its one of the coolest old rail lines in town, he said at the event, hosted by the Solon Chamber of Commerce and live-streamed on the citys website.

Kraus said the abandoned rail line starts in downtown Cleveland and cuts through Solon, behind City Hall. It then travels east, through Aurora and on to Youngstown.

The city seeks to acquire land for a 7.1-mile trail from Harper Road in Solon to Treat Road in Aurora, he said.

Kraus told City Council Tuesday (Feb. 22) that the city will likely pursue a grant to help fund the purchase of this land.

Were going to be meeting with Norfolk Southern to be able to acquire the right-of-way to make sure this happens, he said.

The state of the city

In his 46-minute speech, Kraus said the city has much to look forward to again this year after experiencing much success last year.

He thanked Angee Shaker, the citys director of economic development, for her efforts, which resulted in 33 businesses opening in the city last year despite the coronavirus pandemic.

All these folks found a way to open up a new business in our community, he said. It says a lot about Solon, and it says a lot about the entrepreneurial spirit of our community.

The citys highlight of 2021, Kraus said, was the opening of Swagelok Co.s new global headquarters and Innovation Center in August. The 124,000-square-foot building is located on the same site where Swageloks headquarters has sat since 1965, at 29500 Solon Road.

Meanwhile, Nestle, which has its corporate office at 30003 Bainbridge Road, continues to grow in the city, with two major projects planned for this year, Kraus said. The companys Culinary Innovation Center will undergo a renovation, and a redevelopment of the test kitchens and main auditorium is also slated.

As the citys first Jewish mayor, Kraus said he was proud to welcome the first mosque in the city when the Chagrin Valley Islamic Center opened its new 7,000-square-foot facility in November. The $3 million building sits on 5.3 acres on Liberty Road.

Kraus urged residents to check out some of the citys great new restaurants.

He said City Barbeque is expected to open on SOM Center Road, between Station Street and Aurora Road, in a couple weeks.

Elle Restaurant and Lounge, a new upscale eatery on Bainbridge Road that features Mediterranean cuisine, opened in December and recently had its grand opening. In addition, a Korean barbecue restaurant is coming soon to the Solon Square shopping center, he said.

Development highlights

In terms of development, Kraus said hes excited about the 105 single-family homes that will be built for people 50 and older at the 32.6-acre site next to the former Hawthorne Valley Golf Club on Aurora Road.

We hope there will be an agreement someday with the Cleveland Metroparks, so that they will be able to take over and have beautiful walking paths like they did on Acacia (Reservation in Lyndhurst) on the 150 acres that will hopefully be developed there, he said.

Kraus said hes also very proud of the development that will become Solon Community Living on Aurora Road, west of Portz Parkway. The nonprofit was founded by Solon residents Ara and Leslie Bagdasarian to create a safe and community-accessible neighborhood for those who have disabilities.

When voters approved Issue 19 in April 2020 to make this housing project possible, Solon became the first municipality in the country to rezone a property for adults with disabilities, according to Kraus.

That says a lot about who we are and the values in the community, he said.

To encourage redevelopment in the citys central retail district, City Council approved the creation of a community reinvestment area last year. Kraus said that means property owners could be eligible for tax abatements for new construction and the remodeling of aging buildings.

It makes it a lot easier to provide tax incentives, he said.

The old Liberty Ford site and some of the aging shopping plazas that no longer align with todays market demands will be able to benefit from this CRA that will greatly enable us to attract much-needed new development in the central retail district.

Kraus said the city has a potential developer for a possible mixed-use project at the former Liberty Ford site on Aurora Road.

Kraus said the Cuyahoga County Public Library has partnered with the city to invest in a new Innovation Center that will promote the manufacturing workforce as a positive career path to build the future in safe, clean, cutting-edge facilities.

The center, which will be located at the Solon branch library on Portz Parkway, will enable the city to engage with its business community for ideas and support, he said.

Kraus said the city hosted a successful jobs fair last year, with more than 70 local businesses participating, and looks forward to partnering again with the Solon Chamber of Commerce for another jobs fair from noon to 4 p.m. May 19 at Solon Community Park.

Solon Mayor Ed Kraus discusses the Solon Connects plan during his State of the City address Wednesday (Feb. 23). (Screenshot)

Solon Connects plan

The city collaborated with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission during the last two years to develop the Solon Connects plan, which received an award last year from the Ohio chapter of the American Planning Association.

The intent of the 12-year plan is to build stronger bicycle and pedestrian connections throughout the city, Kraus said.

If you build a community for cars and traffic, you get cars and traffic, he said. Weve done that for a long, long time.

But if you build a community for people and places, you get people and places. So we are doing a complete shift in how were planning and building our community.

The plan, divided into four separate time frames of three years each, will expand the citys bike infrastructure to create a web of connectivity throughout the city, Kraus said.

Kraus said the city will create connectors to what he considers its two most difficult roads to bike and walk on: Harper Road and Liberty Road.

Theres going to be a reconstruction project to make sure folks who are on Harper Road will be able to access Hawthorn Parkway, he said. Liberty Road is probably the single-most dangerous road in the city, so were going to make a connector road there.

By the end of (the 12-year plan), we will have a completely transformed, connected community, so you will no longer feel unsafe getting on your bike, walking or running through our community.

The Solon Connects plan is not just about community safety, Kraus said.

Its about business attraction, he said. This is what businesses want when they come into our community. Its about attracting new families and its about healthy living.

Ashley Holloway, the citys new director of planning and community development, is going to lead an update of the citys master plan, Kraus said. The city will partner with City Architecture of Cleveland on the plan.

We want to make sure what were doing (with the master plan) is compatible with Solon Connects, he said. Were looking to put new buildings closer to the road, to make it more inviting for people to walk or ride their bikes there.

The city also has hired Brandstetter Carroll, a Cleveland-based architectural firm, to evaluate its entire park system via a parks master plan.

We have a beautiful park, but its underutilized, he said. We can do a lot more to our Community Park.

Were also going to look at Bicentennial Park, across the street from City Hall. Hopefully, well be able to have some shows there.

The city plans to reconfigure Bainbridge Road so that children will be able to cross the street more safely from the Solon Center for the Arts to Bicentennial Park, adjacent to the Solon Historical Society building on Bainbridge Road.

Kraus presentation also featured a video tour of the citys industrial area to show how important transportation and mobility is and how it affects our job hubs and businesses.

Narrated by Kraus, the video included stops at about 10 businesses in the citys industrial area, which he called the heart and soul of Solon.

Kraus closed by saying that everything the city does -- whether its hiring, promotion or how we treat people -- has to be done through the lens of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.

Tom Jackson, chair of the Solon Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, served as moderator for the program.

The event was sponsored by Mazanec, Raskin & Ryder Co., a Solon-based law firm. Its available for viewing on the City of Solons YouTube page.

Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.

More here:

Solon mayor highlights another trail project in State of the City address - cleveland.com

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