LIBERTY Bus stop bothers business owner

Officials have put a hold on completing work at the site.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN, JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Township officials are calling newly designed bus stops "oases" of beauty, but one property owner says he sees no beauty in the oasis on his property.
Township officials teamed with the Liberty Business Association and Western Reserve Transit Authority earlier this year to spruce up bus stops throughout the township.
June Smallwood, parks and special projects coordinator, said bus stops here will soon be adorned with flowers and feature green space, benches and trash receptacles and will be paved.
Beautification plan
The township plans to install 10 of the updated rest areas/bus stops as part of a beautification plan for busier township streets. Officials have also designed welcome signs to be placed at the entrances to the township and added landscaping to areas around freeway overpasses at Belmont Avenue and Liberty Street.
Dr. Jerome Davidson, of Ohio Foot Institute on Belmont, said that he is all for the beautification efforts but that he should have been given warning before crews started digging up the ground in front of his practice. He would like the oasis rest area moved somewhere else other than the front of his property.
"I really believe that, as a resident and servant of this township, they owed me the courtesy of saying they were going to build this on my property," he said.
Davidson said work crews showed up Monday and starting digging up the front of the property without warning. Currently, the grass is cleared and the area is ready for concrete to be poured.
Made donation
But township officials say Davidson was well aware that a rest area was planned for the front portion of his property. Smallwood said the doctor even donated to the cause. Smallwood produced a document showing that Davidson donated $250 to the beautification efforts.
Davidson said that he did make the donation but that he gives freely to many township causes and does not remember making the contribution in 2002. He said the donation would not have been made if he knew it meant a rest area in front of his building.
Aside from saying he was not informed, Davidson said he has other concerns about the rest area.
There is a 26-foot area at the front of Davidson's property that can be used for projects deemed worthy by the state, such as the rest area. Davidson, with tape measure in hand, however, said the rest area will take up 28.9 feet of space -- more than two feet onto his property.
Davidson also said he is worried that trash will accumulate around the rest area. Even with the planned trash receptacle, he has no faith that officials will have it emptied on a regular basis. He said the end result will be the destruction of his well-maintained property.
"This is very upsetting. I have my life invested here," he said. "I don't want this here on my property."
Davidson has been at the Belmont location since October 1971.
Legal action
Davidson said he has spoken to an attorney and will do what is necessary to stop the rest area from being placed in front of his building. He is asking officials to consider moving the rest area next door in front of a closed-down Chinese restaurant, which is about 30 feet away.
Township Administrator Pat Ungaro said officials are looking into the matter.
"We are going to see how this all goes," he said. "Right now we are going to put a hold on that particular site."
jgoodwin@vindy.com