The City of East Cleveland announced Friday it's completed its cleanup of a former illegal dumping site on Chapman Avenue Friday, priming the location for future development.
The city, through a collaboration with Cuyahoga County, Cuyahoga Land Bank and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, demolished dozens of buildings, removed 250 tons of dumped waste and completed soil remediation on the property.
"You can see the grandeur and the greatness that once was East Cleveland here," Mayor Sandra Morgan said. "It is my hope that through these kinds of efforts of cleaning up our community, taking care of dumping, really taking care the bad actors who have taken advantage of this city for so long, that we can restore our city to the grandeur that it once had."
Illegal dumping poses not just environmental concerns, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne said, but public health and public safety issues too.
"By restoring this land, we are reclaiming its potential and laying the foundation for a safer, stronger neighborhood," he said. "Cleaning it up means reducing not only the environmental risks, but eliminating places that attract crime and endanger nearby families. And we say to the criminals out there who are illegally dumping in our community, we have zero tolerance for you, and we will prosecute."
Dumping at the site made the space unsafe for residents and children to use, Morgan said.
"It becomes very dangerous and treacherous for the neighbors." she said. "It's a continuous eye sore, and it encourages people to move out of the community."
It's the blighted, abandoned buildings and lack of residents that make areas like Chapman, Elderwood, Northfield and Page avenues prime locations for illegal dumping, Morgan said. But new measures implemented by the city, like harsher fines and jail time, aim to crack down on future dumping crimes.
"We do have cameras strategically placed in hot spots so that we will be able to see people who are dumping," Morgan said. "If we can't get there immediately in order to put a stop to it, we at least have their contact details and we can go after them later."
Residents are encouraged to report cases of illegal dumping to Cuyahoga County's anonymous crime stoppers tip line.
The project was completed through a $4.1 million investment from the Ohio Department of Development and the Cuyahoga Land Bank. This project will not be East Cleveland's last, Cuyahoga Land Bank President and CEO Ricardo León said.
"The fact of the matter is that it's about restoration. It's about reclaiming spaces," León said. "It's finding ways to reclaim those spaces that have been burdened by disinvestment and environmental neglect, and really helping transform them into assets for the community, and that's our hope that this will become an asset for East Cleveland."
The goal is to bring more new housing and commercial businesses to East Cleveland's newly remediated streets, Morgan said.
