Akron council approves conditional use to expand parking for Head Start sites

The Akron City Council on April 6 approved an ordinance authorizing conditional-use changes to expand parking and renovate two vacant buildings at 839 South Arlington Street and 1037 Wiley Avenue so they can be reused for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. The measure passed unanimously, 12–0, after a public hearing and presentations from planning staff and project proponents.

Planning staff summarized the proposal, saying the two previously boarded buildings would be renovated with security entry vestibules, a larger commercial kitchen, laundry facilities and new restrooms, and would receive new doors, windows, security cameras and card readers. The Arlington Street building is planned to host three Head Start classrooms (described in staff comments as accommodating up to 40 children and 14 staff) while the Wiley Avenue building would house five Early Head Start classrooms (up to 51 children and 12 staff). Operating hours described in the record are Monday–Friday, with typical drop-off and pick-up windows noted by staff.

Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval, noting the buildings are vacant and showing signs of blight and that the proposed reuse would serve the Southeast Akron neighborhood. Staff also said the proposed number of parking spaces exceeds code requirements but described the petitioner’s justification: Head Start requires parents or guardians to escort children to the door and sign them in at the front desk, which the petitioner said creates higher demand for on-site parking.

Project architect Jim Persudo, representing Four Points Architectural Services, told the council the design intends to ‘‘accommodate roughly 26 staff members and over 90 children’’ and said the additional spaces are intended to serve parents who must escort and sign in children. Persudo offered to answer technical questions from council members.

Allison James, identified in the record as Head Start Director with Community Action, described decades of Head Start service and said the project will allow Community Action to continue serving eligible preschool and infant/toddler families in the area. A Community Action representative told the council the organization had secured roughly $4 million in additional federal funding to reconstruct the property and continue related services, including utility assistance and other programs targeted to the adjacent low-income area.

The site plan presented in the hearing includes 18 rear parking spaces at the Arlington building and 14 added spaces at the Wiley building (for a total of 25 there), new landscaping and screening, a 6-foot vinyl privacy fence along eastern property lines, cleaned and upgraded outdoor play areas with new equipment and an enclosed dumpster near the Wiley building’s northeast corner. Staff noted additional landscape plantings and a northernmost parking space set back 14 feet from the right-of-way at Arlington and other specified clearances along Wiley Avenue.

With no speakers opposed and no outstanding questions that blocked passage, Councilman Kamer moved to poll the committee for passage. Several council members spoke in support on the record, and Councilwoman Mobleyan asked to have her name added to the legislation. The committee reported favorably and the chair announced the ordinance passed 12–0. The council adjourned the special meeting and listed the regular session to begin at 6:30 p.m.

Council documents in the record list the public notice as published in the Akron Beacon Journal on March 21 and posted to the council website beginning March 19. The ordinance number, if any, was not specified in the hearing record.