Home Care In Brecksville, OH

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio (WKW) – It is a sight that is not for the faint of heart that greets visitors when they reach the crest of a hill along Whitewood Road in Brecksville.

It is a harrowing Halloween display, featuring ghastly ghosts and goblins, weird witches and warlocks and a collection of creepy clowns.

The eerie exhibit is the passion of Kimberly and Dave Woodburn.

The drive-by exhibit started as a small cemetery in their front yard, and during each Halloween season since then, they have added new characters and themes.

“Just listening to the kids scream and yell and laugh and they are having so much fun, it brings us so much joy and it warms my heart,” said Kimberly.

Kimberly is a volunteer at the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter and has adopted two dogs from the shelter.

That’s why she and her husband decided to encourage Northeast Ohioans, who enjoy their Halloween display, to make donations that will help the shelter continue its mission of mercy, rescuing abandoned and abused animals.

“Medical is a huge need for the dogs and food and treats and getting them to the next step to be adopted out,” she said.

It turns out that neighbors of the Woodburns love Halloween as much as they do, and they have built a display that is just as frightening, creating a small Halloween village in the neighborhood.

Kris Green says bringing joy to trick-or-treaters of all ages, is what motivates her family to add to their display each year. It is not a case of keeping up with the Joneses.

She says it is the satisfaction in knowing that they, like the Woodburns, are helping animals in their time of need and promoting pet adoption.

“So if anybody needs a dog, please adopt one. They need a good home,” she said.

The reputation of the joint display continues to grow each year, and in 2022, the exhibit raised $2,400 for the animal shelter.

The display is in the 8300 block of Whitewood Road, off of Brecksville Road. It runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the week and 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The display will be up through Halloween.

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- Another vacant space in a high-profile downtown retail-restaurant strip will soon be filled.

Barber Dale’s, a barbershop now in Broadview Heights, plans to relocate to a storefront next to Apricot Lane Boutique on the west side of Brecksville Road, just south of Ohio 82.

“I’m really excited about moving to Brecksville, and I think the potential of Brecksville’s downtown booming is looking good,” Dale DeLong, owner of Barber Dale’s, told cleveland.com Saturday (Aug. 26).

Barber Dale’s, which will be located at 8920 Brecksville Road, is the latest new business in Brecksville’s downtown south of Ohio 82, where retail-restaurant strips line both sides of Brecksville Road.

Apricot Lane, a women’s clothing store, opened earlier this year. In 2021, Blue Habanero Street Tacos & Tequila launched a restaurant a few doors south of Apricot Lane.

Only two vacant spaces, one a former U.S. Bank location, remain in the retail-restaurant strip on the west side of Brecksville Road south of Ohio 82.

Other businesses in this strip are ABC Art & Coin Exchange, Plant Love Botanicals, East of Chicago Pizza Co., Frankie’s Wok and Brecksville Chiropractic & Rehabilitation.

DeLong said he hopes to open his Brecksville shop by the end of the year, possibly after Thanksgiving, or by January at the latest.

Currently, DeLong’s business shares space with more than 30 other independent hair stylists in Mia Salon Studios, which is tucked at the end of Market Place, off the north side of Ohio 82 just west of Interstate 77 in Broadview Heights. He’s been there about three years.

Before that, DeLong, a Broadview Heights resident, operated his own studio for a year in North Royalton. Previously, he rented space in a different studio for seven years.

In Brecksville, DeLong will hire four additional barbers. Also, he is changing the name of his business from Barber Dale to Barber Dale’s.

DeLong said he chose the Brecksville Road location because, first of all, it was available. Also, the landlord -- The Breck Masonic Temple Co. -- recently completed a renovation of the building facades, replacing windows, awnings and panels and repairing brick.

“I knew it was the exact right space for me,” DeLong said. “I didn’t want to be in a strip mall. I wanted to locate in a place with more character.”

DeLong said several of his clients live in Brecksville and he believes he will gain many new clients.

“Valor Acres is going in down the street, so there’s a large influx of people coming into the area,” DeLong said.

Valor Acres is a mixed-use development at Brecksville and Miller roads that will include a new Sherwin-Williams Co. research and development center, along with residential and retail sections.

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio -- The city will likely ask voters in November to allow retail businesses along Ohio 82, and five new homes along Arlington Street to the south, on the site of the former Central Elementary School, just west of Brecksville Road.

The city might also allow apartments on the Central school site, but only on a case-by-case basis and only on the second or higher floor of a retail building.

To make all this happen, voters would have to rezone the Central school site, which measures slightly more than 3.5 acres. It’s still uncertain whether the school building will be preserved and repurposed as part of the project or torn down.

The rezoning, which the Planning Commission has recommended, would appear on the November ballot if City Council places it there. Council left the rezoning on first reading May 16.

The city obtained the Central property and a house next door, plus 10.5 acres on Stadium Drive, from the Brecksville-Broadview Heights City School District in exchange for 25 acres on the municipally owned Blossom Hill property on Oakes Road.

Both parties signed the land-swap agreement in 2018. The district has since built a new elementary school on the Blossom Hill land.

City officials announced in 2019 that they would choose and work with a developer to convert the 106-year-old Central school into condominiums, another type of housing or a mixed-use site that might include condominiums or apartments above retail stores or offices.

The city entertained two competing plans -- one by DiGeronimo Development LLC, the Independence firm that is developing Valor Acres at Brecksville and Miller roads; another by United Community Developers in Brecksville -- but rejected both of them in September 2021.

Brecksville officials decided to start over after residents living in the historic Old Town district, which includes Central school, expressed opposition to the two plans. Since then, no new plans have been brought forward.

Nuts & bolts

The Central school site is off the south side of Ohio 82, next to and west of Brecksville United Church of Christ and across from the Brecksville Public Square gazebo. The parcel extends south to Arlington, an Old Town residential street that runs parallel to Ohio 82.

The site is zoned a community facility district, where schools, religious institutions, public parks, swimming pools, stables, libraries, museums, indoor recreation centers, private clubs, police and fire stations, childcare businesses, golf courses, cemeteries, athletic fields, picnic areas and hospitals are permitted.

The Planning Commission has proposed rezoning most of the Central school parcel into a local business district, where retail stores selling food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, books, gifts, hardware, appliances, electronics, clothes, flowers, sporting goods, musical instruments and other items would be permitted.

Local business zoning also allows laundromats, beauty and barber shops, tailors, automobile service stations, and photographic and art studios.

The city would allow apartments on the upper floors of retail buildings, but only with special permission from the Planning Commission. Freestanding apartment buildings would be prohibited.

The rezoning to local business would also include part of a city-owned residential lot, containing a historic home known as the Comstock house, next to and west of the school building. The lot, on Highland Drive, measures close to 1 acre.

Meanwhile, the southern portion of the Central school site along Arlington would become an R-8A residential district where single-family, detached homes are permitted.

Monica Bartkiewicz, the city’s director of planning and community development, said the R-8A section would have enough room for five new houses on Arlington. A landscape buffer would separate the local business and residential sections of the rezoned property.

Initially, the city considered allowing freestanding apartments in the local business section -- again, only on a case-by-case basis -- but feared residents would vote down the entire rezoning plan if freestanding apartments were allowed.

The commission also considered not allowing apartments under any circumstances.

Earlier this month, Commissioner Ron Payto, referring to apartments, said, “It’s kind of a four-letter word out in the community.”

Commissioner Lawry Kardos said voters might worry that apartments would lead to more children at the newly opened Brecksville Elementary School on Blossom Hill.

“If we open it up where the whole thing could be apartments, there could be some backlash because of the overcrowded mess at the elementary school,” Kardos said.

“Are people going to be voting based on their thoughts about the school district and being able to accept new students in the school?”

Public hearings

The city hosted public hearings on the proposed rezoning April 6 and April 20.

According to minutes of those hearings, Edmund Arnold, of Daisy Avenue, asked for assurance that the city would not tear down existing homes in Old Town to build a new multifamily building.

Joe DiVincenzo, of Old Highland Drive, said he would oppose access to the new development from his street.

Mark Weigand of Daisy asked if the city had considered tearing down the school and rezoning the entire Central parcel to residential.

Michael Satink, a Cedar Street resident, said he was against any development that would increase traffic on Old Town streets.

Regarding these concerns from residents, Mayor Jerry Hruby confirmed that any new apartments, if approved by the commission, would be built only on the Central school site.

City Engineer Gerald Wise said a developer would have the right to access the site from Ohio 82 but added that without a proposed plan, it was too early to tell where the entrance would be located.

Hruby added, however, that access from Old Highland might be the only safe way into the property. A traffic study would be commissioned only after the development is designed.

Hruby said the all-residential option for the Central school site was rejected because it would add too many living units to the downtown population.

Councilman Brian Stucky, a commission member, said the commission has focused on preserving the Old Town neighborhood.

Read more from the Sun Star Courier.

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BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — Nearly two miles of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail north of Station Road Bridge Trailhead will be closed weekdays beginning next week.

The trail section will reopen on weekends, but during the week it will be inaccessible, and no detour will be available. Closures begin Dec. 18 and will run through May 2024.

What You Need To Know

A contractor will complete riverbank stabilization along the north Station Road area in Phase 1. Phase 2 of the project will occur along the southern area of Station Road and details for it will be announced in 2024. The Station Road area-work is part of Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s infrastructure improvements to the towpath and railroad.

In 2022, the park received approximately $14 million through the Great American Outdoors Act to help maintain access to recreational experiences. Work began last October and is continuing through early 2025, according to CUVA. The eight projects around the park included two priority sections of Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and six locations along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.

“The towpath trail and the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad are centerpieces of the park experience that are very close to the Cuyahoga River. Being that close to the river offers beautiful views, but it also presents constant and costly maintenance challenges,” said Lisa Petit, Cuyahoga Valley National Park superintendent in a news release. “This project will allow us to proactively manage infrastructure that provides safe and enjoyable recreational experiences while we protect and enhance our most important natural resource, the Cuyahoga River.”

Earlier this year, CUVA drafted a Circulation Environmental Assessment, EA, shared for public comment. The EA, “analyzed the planned actions and considered potential affects on archeological resources, cultural landscapes, historic structures, soils, vegetation and visitor experience.” according to the park. Analysis showed there would not be significant impacts felt.

Actions outlined in the EA, which will be implemented by the National Park Service include rehabilitating the Towpath Trail surface with chip-sealed asphalt, improving parking and access to East Rim Trail and Everett Covered Bridge. Time-limited parking will be added in popular areas such as Brandywine Falls and Boston Mill Visitor Center and the creation of a limited mobility parking area and accessible trail for Blue Hen Falls.

Connections to Cleveland Metroparks’ and Summit Metro Parks’ development of the multi-use Sagamore Connector Trail from Canal Road to the Bike & Hike Trail are also among actions to be taken.

Cuyahoga Valley National Park encompasses 33,000 acres along the Cuyahoga River between the cities of Cleveland and Akron.

Right now, a month after Easter, they get calls daily for people dumping pigs, ducks, chicks bought as pets.

The Homestead Animal Sanctuary rescues and fosters hundreds of farm animals throughout Northeast Ohio.

BRECKSVILLE, Ohio — For most people, one or two pets is enough. Carly and Andrew Keserich are not most people. They take in as many animals as they can, as the founders of The Homestead Animal Sanctuary.

“We’ve rescued hundreds and fostered hundreds,” she said. “I just wanted to help when I could and where I could and I think we’ve done just that.”

The Homestead is dedicated to saving abused, neglected or surrendered farm animals.

Currently, they have 28 residents, consisting of lambs, goats, chickens, turkeys, pigs and more.

Five years ago, the couple was living in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood with their dog, their pig and their chicken coop.

“It was sort of this niche thing, and it really took off in the neighborhood,” said Carly. “We started getting all these calls and people asking if we would take their animals. That turned into ‘Hey, do you want my pig,’ or ‘Hey, so-and-so has a goat, do you want it?’ So we knew it was something there was definitely a need for.”

In 2020, the couple packed up their items and moved their animals to their six-acre property on Snowville Road in Brecksville.

“I was like, ‘Uh-oh, what are we getting into?” joked Andrew.

The Homestead Animal Sanctuary continued to grow.

“It’s shocking how many calls we get on a daily, daily basis,” said Andrew. “The business Carly has built, it’s truly special.”

The focus is on farm animals.

“If animals come to us and they are healthy and they are totally fine to join another flock or another herd, I’ll adopt them out to approved adopters,” said Carly.

But if the animal’s circumstances don’t allow for adoption, like the couple’s special needs lamb, they’ll live out the rest of their lives at The Homestead.

Carly said animals come to them as owner-surrendered, from livestock farms, abused and neglected.

“There’s such a range. One of our goats came from an owner that was incarcerated and he was just left behind,” she said.

But, mostly, the Homestead receives discarded pets that were bought and dumped as they got older. The need is greater after holidays like Easter or Thanksgiving.

“It can be as small as chicken, ducks, waterfowl that are at your local feed store. They do an annual sales every Easter time and people are buying them, well-intended, for children as gifts, but then they realize ‘Oh gosh, they probably need to be outside, or have a setup, and this is a bigger expense than I realized,’” she said.

She said people are enamored by the small chicks and pigs but don’t realize they don’t stay small.

“Pigs have to be one of my top calls because they grow for five years, of course they gain a ton of weight. They do not stay small,” she added.

And while she encourages people to do their research before buying a farm animal as a pet, she added it’s important to realize you can’t just throw a rabbit into the woods or ducks into a pond.

“They’re made to be with humans and rely on their care. People don’t realize that, and they just throw them in the woods, and they won’t thrive,” she said. “They don’t have that innate instinct to go forage and find food on their own and nest on their own.”

The Homestead Sanctuary relies purely on donations. If you’d like to learn more and help, just click here.

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