After months of public hearings and getting unanimous approval from the Solon City Council, the Mayor, and the Planning Commission, special needs zoning will be on the March 17 Ballot as Issue #19!
Leslie and Ara Bagdasarian, founders of Solon Community Living, have achieved a major milestone by getting zoning language for this innovative living option officially on the ballot for Solon voters in Ward 6 and City wide to approve.
R-C-3 (Multi-Family Residential-Special Needs) is similar to Solon’s senior zoning and will be on the ballot on March 17, 2020 as Issue 19. This new zoning code is specifically designed to permit a quality development that accommodates the needs of persons with disabilities.
“We were so excited to finally get an official ballot number to rally around and launch our campaign to educate the voters of Solon,” said Leslie. “We feel great about the positive support we are receiving so far for our project from everyone in the community.”
Now that Issue 19 is officially on the ballot, the Bagdasarian family and a core group of Solon families are ready for the next phase in this election cycle: educating voters. Soon, Solon residents will see yard signs promoting Issue 19 and a direct mail postcard that encourages voters to Vote YES. Also several articles have already been written in the local Solon papers over the past 6 months.
“The new zoning code would enable us to build a high quality neighborhood for our children on the convenient site and allow other individuals with developmental disabilities to live there and thrive as well,” Ara said. “Passing Issue 19 gives the city of Solon, a caring community, a way to provide housing for individuals with disabilities – an underserved demographic. This fits in directly with the city’s Master Plan: ‘to Promote housing opportunities to meet the unique preferences and needs of all age groups so as to enable residents to reside within Solon throughout the various stages of life’” he continued.
What’s Ahead
Once Issue 19 is passed, the next step for the development of Solon Community Living is to work on gaining commitments from interested families who want to secure a place in this unique neighborhood for their children. We are excited to bring this ground -breaking housing option to our city for those with developmental disabilities, yet another reason to be proud to live in Solon.
To get involved with Solon Community Living and help pass Issue 19, please consider putting up a yard sign (email us at [email protected]), follow the organization on Facebook, sign up for the newsletter, tell your friends and neighbors in Solon and most importantly, please vote YES for Issue 19 in the general election on March 17, 2020.
