Townhouse project rankles some

A plan to build several dozen low-income townhouses in Ohio City is meeting some resistance from neighbors who say the neighborhood already has too much low-income housing.

But Ward 14 Councilman Joe Santiago said he supports the project because it will eliminate neighborhood blight.

NRP Group of Garfield Heights seeks to build 30-40 townhouses for rental or lease-purchase at the southwest corner of Lorain Avenue and West 47th Street. Units may be made available on an "income qualified" basis.

A representative from the developer was scheduled to make a presentation to block club members at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Urban Community School, 4909 Lorain Ave. The meeting was after the West Side Sun's Tuesday news deadline.

Calls to NRP Group representatives were not returned Tuesday.

Santiago said the housing would be built with "green" features, including efficient heating and cooling systems, low-energy lighting and insulated windows to keep utility bills low. Tax-credit funding will depend on the project getting a high ranking from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

"I think it is a very positive project," Santiago said. "It's the right time to redevelop that area. I'm excited about the project because the area has been so blighted and crime-ridden. There are prostitutes and drugs and this (development) will help get rid of that."

The townhouse development would level the Sunrise Food Mart, 4757 Lorain Ave., located across West 48th Street from the Urban Community School. It would also demolish adjoining used car businesses -- A-1 Auto Sales, 4717 Lorain as well as Rite Cars Inc., 4725 Lorain.

Santiago said NRP Group is near to reaching agreements to acquire those properties.

While members of several block clubs, including the West 45th, West 47th-52nd and the Bridge-Carroll-Jay block clubs, said they have concerns about the proposed development, they pledged to keep an open mind.

"One-third of the property in Ohio City is already low-income, owned by CMHA (Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority)," said Patricia Zolten, chair of the Bridge-Carroll-Jay Block Club. "I want to hear all of the facts but to me it's a slippery slope."

Zolten said she preferred to see market-rate housing for that block of Lorain, stepped-up police patrols to get rid of the prostitution and drugs, and demolish or renovate what she called substandard public housing in the rest of Ohio City.

"That would be the ideal," she said.

 Reposted compliments of Cleveland.com and the West Side Sun News