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Garfield Heights council adopts multiple infrastructure, code and cannabis measures; tax budget date corrected
Summary
The Garfield Heights City Council unanimously approved a package of measures July 14 that included police pay and staffing changes, moratoria on new bar licenses and on certain cannabis activities, updated building codes, and several infrastructure funding applications.
The Garfield Heights City Council adopted a series of ordinances and resolutions July 14 covering police staffing and pay, zoning and licensing moratoria, code updates and several infrastructure funding applications.
Key actions passed unanimously (roll calls recorded as 5‑0): a change to the police pay ordinance for 2025 that includes funding for an added officer to support a middle‑school SRO; an ordinance imposing a moratorium on the issuance and processing of licenses, permits and certificates for new bars and taverns in the city; and a temporary moratorium on cannabis cultivation, processing, distribution or sales activities for up to six months.
Council approved multiple infrastructure measures to enable the city to apply for state and county funding. Those measures instruct the mayor or his designee to pursue Ohio Public Works Commission state capital improvement or local transportation improvement funds for projects identified by ordinance, including an I‑480 cemetery sewer crossing project, Walter Street reconstruction, Multi‑Street reconstruction phase 9 (parts A and B), McCracken Road repairs (funded in part by a Cuyahoga County 50/50 grant), and a Maple Road/East 126th sewer separation project. Several ordinances were described as authorizing engineering and construction services and specifying funding sources such as Cleveland Water Department and OPWC.
The council also adopted administrative code updates: the city moved to adopt the most current edition of the Residential Code of Ohio and enacted a new chapter adopting the International Property Maintenance Code. The council approved an ordinance authorizing sale and disposal of municipally owned property pursuant to section 129.02 of the codified ordinances.
Resolutions passed included a request that the Ohio General Assembly release cannabis excise tax funds to municipalities that host adult‑use dispensaries and a resolution opposing House Bill 335, which the council said would transfer local budgetary authority to the county and remove inside millage. The council also authorized the mayor to apply for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds with Cuyahoga County and adopted a corrected tax budget for the fiscal year beginning Jan. 1, 2026.
Procedural notes: for many measures council moved to consider by title, suspended the three‑reading rule and waived Rule 24 (consistent with the council’s rules) before voting. No contested votes were recorded on the items taken that night. Several ordinance and resolution texts were presented under emergency declarations.
What the meeting did not do: the council did not award construction contracts at the meeting; most infrastructure ordinances authorized the mayor or city engineer to pursue funding and contract services, subject to later procurement steps.
Council members and the mayor said they would continue to report back to the public as funding applications proceed and as larger capital or construction decisions arise.
