CLEVELAND — Tenants at the Broadway Place apartments in Cleveland are tired of being left in the dark. Now their complaints about their shadowy parking lot could spur a change in city law.
City Council is considering legislation to create minimum standards for parking-lot lighting. The proposal would update Cleveland’s zoning code to mirror rules in other cities, including Columbus, Toledo and Dayton.
Councilwoman Rebecca Maurer said the residents at Broadway Place inspired her to push for change. She's visited the senior apartment building many times over the last few years to address complaints about a broken elevator, car break-ins and safety.
And those parking lot lights – some totally blank, others dim – keep coming up.
“I just stay in my apartment now. I won’t even come out anymore,” Olivia Thomas, a 70-year-old who uses a wheelchair and a rolling walker, said of venturing outside at night.
The building, in the Slavic Village neighborhood, is located at Broadway Avenue and East 71st Street. Tenants said the parking lot is a magnet for crime and loitering after sunset. They don’t feel safe walking when they get home late from work or from visits with family members.
“I love my apartment. I love the people,” said Wealthy Gibson, 66, who moved in a year ago. “I just don’t like what’s going on on the outside.”
Maurer’s proposed rules would apply to parking lots with at least 10 spaces. Those properties would have to be illuminated at levels between one and 2.5-foot candles. That’s a unit of measurement used by architects and lighting designers across the United States.
If the legislation passes, it won’t be retroactive. It won’t force upgrades at existing properties like Broadway Place. But the rules will apply to new developments. And Maurer hopes to send a message to landlords about Cleveland’s expectations.
“I’m thinking about the next set of tenants,” she said. “The next group of seniors that are dealing with this."
The legislation hasn’t been set for a council hearing yet. The Cleveland City Planning Commission approved it on Sept. 6.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Gibson said of the proposal.
On Friday night, Maurer demonstrated what convinced her to push for change. After hearing so many complaints, she started reading about industry standards, light levels and how to measure them. Then she bought a simple tool – an illuminance meter – on Amazon.
“I learned that this parking lot was not being well lit – and that we had plenty of other parking lots like it,” she said.
In one patch of the apartment building’s parking lot on Friday, the gadget's screen read 0.04.
“You better believe we’re gonna put pressure on your landlord to make sure he fixes these lightbulbs,” she told tenants.
The owner of Broadway Place is an affiliate of United Property Management Co., which is based in Lorain.
Nick Spataro, a supervisor at the company, said he’s “fully aware” of the problems with the lights in the parking lot. He said the landlord has been trying to get an electrical contractor out to the property. That could happen early next week, Spataro said during a phone interview Friday.
“We’re in the middle of working on that,” he said.
In February, tenants complained to News 5 about an elevator that was broken for almost a month. That elevator was repaired a few days later. Tenants said it’s working fine now.
RELATED: Elevator at apartment for elderly Clevelanders back working days after News 5 investigation airs
Spataro said the landlord had ordered a replacement part for the elevator, but it took weeks to arrive. “That’s something completely out of our control,” he added.
Tenants are hoping their parking lot gets brighter soon. But they’re skeptical.
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Thomas said. “Say it like that.”
Gibson echoed that.
“Let the miracles happen,” she said. “That’s what I say. Let the miracles begin.”
