CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cleveland Clinic is expanding its footprint in Kamms Corner.
The hospital system wants to build a thousand-car parking garage on the north side of Lorain Avenue, located directly across the street from Fairview Hospital.
Residents who live in the area of 179th Street came out to the community room at Kamms Corner Development Tuesday to speak their concerns to hospital officials as well as officials from the City of Cleveland.
"We're not getting any hardcore answers," said Chris Gnall, who has lived in the neighborhood for nearly 35 years.
Gnall says he is concerned about the size of the garage. He and others in the neighborhood have heard it could be seven stories high.
"Nobody wants to walk out their front door and look at a seven-story parking garage," Gnall said.
But traffic was the main concern as residents spoke out asking how their two-lane road would be able to accommodate the flow.
"I mean, you're talking about, you know, 2,000 cars in and out per day," said Gnall. "So 4,000 over that 12-hour period. You're directing them into a residential street, essentially two lanes with a residential house on the property or on that street. How do you control that?"
Cleveland City Councilman Charles Slife believes the meeting was productive and called the residents' comments and concerns helpful.
Slife said it would help the Cleveland Clinic and the City of Cleveland decide how to adjust the traffic lights or the streets around the parking garage to accommodate everyone.
"We heard a lot of good questions that hadn't come up before," said Slife. "I think {the questions} are going to really help make sure that as we've moved down this progression, we're going to end up with a project that meets the needs of as many people as we can, including the people who have committed to living in the neighborhood."
George Gorze, who lives and owns a business near the proposed parking garage, has lost faith in the Cleveland Clinic and the city's ability to act responsibly.
"My family, my boys, won't be able to go out and play. It'll be nothing but cars blocking our driveway," Gorze said. "Blocking the entrance to my parking lots. It's cars cutting through my parking lots. It's not even conceivably possible to funnel that many cars down a two-lane road, and we all know it.”
Slife said he knows there have been growing pains between the residents and the hospital over the years, and he hopes to change that.
"I would disagree with the one component that, you know, the Cleveland Clinic can do whatever it wants," said Slife. "Because, you know, we have a zoning code, we have design review standards, we have regulations in place in the City of Cleveland that prevents property owners from just going buck wild and doing whatever they want on their property, without any regard for kind of the spillover effects."
The Cleveland Clinic sent an email to News 5:
Fairview Hospital's expansion plans include building a new cancer center, medical office building and parking garage to replace the current outdated facilities. It's my understanding that tonight's meeting was focused on the garage and traffic.
In addition to this meeting, Fairview hosted several community meetings over the past two years to discuss these plans and gather feedback on the project's design. We revised the project based on this feedback and it's currently going through the City's public process for approval. We are committed to being a good neighbor and ensuring our hospital is poised to deliver high-quality care for our patients well into the future.
I'd also like to point out that we received positive feedback from many community members on this project and our significant investment in the neighborhood. I encourage you to also reach out to Kamm's Corner Development and Councilman Slife who were part of our community meetings.
The next community meeting will be held on April 1.
