Just weeks before the City of Cleveland decided Cudell Park was just a “surplus property” and CMSD’s Board of Education agreed to build their new school on it, Ward 15 Councilman Matt Zone and CMSD CEO Eric Gordon mailed this letter to Ward 15 residents. In it, they make no mention of their plan or any need for feedback from the community about “determining their site plan” at Cudell Commons. They had plans, however, to gather feedback about their Watterson-Lake site.

The city wanted feedback from the Gordon Square Watterson-Lake neighborhood but were fine with taking away our park in Cudell weeks later or not telling the neighborhood about their scheme. One neighborhood gets special treatment while the other gets told what to accept.

Its 2024! Watterson Lake gets a new residential development built partially funded by millions of direct and indirect public dollars. A development? Is that what the community feedback said? No, they said their top choice was “access to parks and greenspace” and “sustainability” while wanting more “density” came in last and next to last. See link below.

What did our community want? Parks and greenspace. What did we get? More density and its park’s greenspace destroyed.

We have been lied to and continue to be deceived by our public officials. These two projects must be stopped.