Cleveland council approves permit‑fee waivers and 20‑home pilot for East Side “Housing Innovation District”

City Council on May 29 approved emergency measures to kick‑start a new East Side Housing Innovation District including temporary permit‑fee waivers and a $750,000 market pilot to seed new homebuilding in Huff, Central and St. Clair‑Superior.

The administration described the district as a package of zoning, permitting and financing tools intended to make it easier to build a range of housing types while investing in the neighborhoods’ infrastructure and workforce. The city’s presentation listed nearby and planned investments — a more than $300 million “Cheers” project along the lakeshore, $25 million for the Superior Midline, $10 million for Gordon Park, a $16 million Patrick Parker Sailing Center and a 350‑acre Midline industrial reclamation — and said the 1,500‑acre district contains thousands of vacant city land‑bank lots.

"We are harnessing all the tools that we use downtown," said Director McNair, the administration’s lead presenter. "I refuse to accept that any of our neighborhoods sits in a state of perpetual decline." Officials said form‑based zoning (ordinance 626‑2026) and a set of permitting incentives were central to the approach.

Council voted to adopt ordinance 622‑2026 as amended, which waives building permit fees in the pilot geography: 100% for new one‑ to three‑family construction and 50% for larger new residential buildings. Council added a sunset amendment — the waiver will expire on Jan. 1, 2032 unless reauthorized — that passed on a voice vote.

The council also approved ordinance 675‑2026 to launch a market pilot that pairs 20 new single‑family homes with street‑level storefront renovations and neighborhood home repairs. The city will contribute $750,000 to a land‑bank‑administered fund; the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation and the Cleveland Foundation each committed roughly $1 million to the pilot, and staff estimated partner writing‑down of roughly $160,000 per home in total subsidy in the pilot model.

Staff emphasized the TIF (tax‑increment financing) structure remains under negotiation with Cleveland Metropolitan School District and said the council was not being asked to adopt a final TIF project at this meeting. "We are not asking for final passage of the TIF district today," McNair said; he said staff will return to council in July after completing conversations with the school district.

Council members pressed for detail on likely tax impacts to existing homeowners and on where the permit‑fee waivers’ cost will be borne. City staff said the TIF funds would be used only for public infrastructure (roads, streetscapes, water/sewer connections, environmental remediation, land acquisition and site preparation) and argued the pilot is intended to stop a long‑term decline in assessed values rather than accelerate tax burdens on current residents.

Several council members urged caution and asked for more neighborhood engagement and fiscal analysis. Councilwoman House Jones, whose ward includes parts of the district, said she was "thoroughly disappointed" in the administration’s rollout and pressed for stronger local coordination: "For you all to roll out the housing innovation district in Ward 8 and not even invite my office is a form of direct disrespect," she said on the floor.

Next steps: the administration will continue TIF negotiations with the school district, finalize pilot lots (ten city land‑bank lots were identified on E.67th for the St. Clair‑Superior pilot and the E.65th Huff pilot is further along), and return to council with final TIF and monetization proposals in July. The permit‑fee waiver and pilot will proceed under the adopted emergency ordinances while those negotiations continue.