COUNTY PLANNING NEWSLETTER

March 2025

Gateways & Wayfinding in Cleveland Heights

Screenshot of the inventory mapping tool

In partnership with the City of Cleveland Heights, County Planning is conducting a Gateways & Wayfinding Signage Plan to develop a unified strategy for city and business district signs. Staff from County Planning and Cleveland Heights inventoried 240 existing signs and compiled data about them in an online inventory mapping tool developed by County Planning. This inventory documented each sign’s typology; condition; its location, particularly whether it was located in one of the City's 11 business districts; and included a georeferenced image of each sign location.

Combining the sign inventory data with the results of an online Gateways & Wayfinding Survey will allow County Planning to determine best practices for signs and recommend to Cleveland Heights sign typologies, locations, and information including sign message. Ultimately, this will lead to a series of maps that demonstrate where signs should be located, the types of destinations to which they will guide visitors, and preferred types of signs. This plan will serve as a guide for future design, installation, and maintenance of signs within Cleveland Heights.

Although the Gateways & Wayfinding Signage Plan is tailored to Cleveland Heights, it is intended to be a model that can be adapted by other communities in Cuyahoga County as they consider sign usage. 

Community Planning Services Program Applications Are In!

County Planning is pleased to share that as of the February 7 deadline, we received 10 applications to our Community Planning Services Program. Represented among the applicants were cities, villages, and townships seeking assistance on a variety of projects. There were five applications for Community Master Plans, and one each for the following eligible project types: Corridor Study; Business District Revitalization Plan; Parks & Greenspace Inventory, Assessment, and Open Space Plan; Active Transportation Planning; and Other Planning Projects for Communities. The County Planning team is busy reviewing, discussing, and scoring the applications, and we anticipate announcing the awards later this month.

Apply for Our Summer Internship

At the invitation of the Knowlton School of Architecture, Design, and Planning at Ohio State University, County Planning participated in the 2025 Career Fair for City and Regional Planning students on February 19. The career fair offered the chance for Ohio State students to meet with Ohio-based employers in the planning field to learn about internship and employment opportunities.

County Planning is dedicated to enhancing the educational opportunities of students studying urban planning and regularly hosts interns and co-ops. A planning internship with County Planning provides students with real-world experience while also developing the critical skills necessary for a career in community planning. Students work collaboratively with our management and staff of planners, researchers, and GIS specialists on a variety of projects and tasks that include research and analysis, preparing reports, assisting with and attending public meetings, and field work.

Our summer internship start date is flexible and we are now accepting applications. To learn more, please visit our employment page. 

Community Input Needed

The second public meeting for the Evolving Southgate Area Redevelopment Plan was held on February 26 in partnership with the City of Maple Heights. The Southgate Area Redevelopment Plan Public Meeting #2 Survey is open until March 7 and is available to Maple Heights residents and other stakeholders who were unable to attend the public meeting.  

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Cuyahoga County Planning Commission

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