UREB AND SUPPORTERS PROTEST AT WRLC BREAKFAST FUNDRAISER

On the morning of Friday, May 19th NEOCH staff and the United Residents of Euclid Beach tenants’ union gathered at the Western Reserve Land Conservancy’s (WRLC) breakfast fundraiser in Moreland Hills to protest the WRLC’s decision to close the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park and displace over 100 Euclid Beach residents in September 2024. NEOCH’s executive director, Chris Knestrick, donated a trailer painted with the phrase “WRLC: Residents Demand to Stay” to the WRLC and encouraged the land conservancy to auction off the trailer to the highest bidder and use the money to create a Resident Owned Community. 

The WRLC’s donors attending the breakfast fundraiser deserve to know that their donations are funding the displacement of an entire community when alternative options have been provided by Euclid Beach residents including a Resident Owned Community on a reduced-footprint mobile home park. According to recent public statements, the WRLC claims to support and respect our right to protest. But their actions say otherwise. On Friday, WLRC employees attempted to silence protestors by calling the police multiple times but were informed by police that NEOCH staff and UREB members were well within our right to protest on public property. 

The WRLC has repeatedly refused to recognize the United Residents of Euclid Beach tenants’ union (UREB) or negotiate with the tenants’ union. After UREB’s formation on August 3rd, 2022, union members were disinvited from steering committee meetings after expressing their opinions. Union members were also followed and intimidated during other public meetings. 

Instead of displacing the residents of Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community, Matt Zone and his many sited professional partners could leverage institutional expertise, state and federal funds, and the ingenuity of local industry to instead create an intentionally constructed eco-village amongst an expended and more connected lakefront park.  

This eco-village would preserve the existing affordable housing of the mobile home park, protect the community of residents, and lessen the environmental impacts of new construction all while creating jobs and being in line with the mission WRLC’s donors' support.  

The United Residents of Euclid Beach also invited all WRLC breakfast attendees to the upcoming Thrive! Benefit Concert on May 28th from 6 PM to midnight at the Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd. Cleveland, Ohio 44110). This concert will feature live music, raffles, and a silent auction. All proceeds will go directly to the United Residents of Euclid Beach tenants' union to help create the equitable development and thriving communities that Collinwood deserves. 

This event is free, and all community members are encouraged to attend. If you are able to give, a $20 entry donation is suggested.  

A Timeline of the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Park 

1969: The Euclid Beach Park, a well-known amusement park that was open for over 70 years, closes. 

1970: The Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community opens after the closing of Euclid Beach Park. 

1988: The Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community property is sold to Euclid Beach L.P., based in Dallas. 

December 5th, 2021: The Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC) purchases the 28.5-acre property. Tenants are promised lot fees will remain stable and they will not have to relocate for at least one year. 

August 3rd, 2022: The Euclid Mobile Home Community votes to form the tenant union, United Residents of Euclid Beach, to vocalize fears of displacement for community residents. 

August 9th, 2022: The United Residents of Euclid Beach send an open letter to WRLC leadership with 8 requests on how WRLC should handle matters that would impact the mobile home community, including a 3-year minimum notice of any relevant changes to their housing. 

August 23rd, 2022: The WRLC responds with a letter that does not agree to meet any of the tenant union's requests. The one-year deadline still stands and will end in December 2022. 

February 9th, 2022: The WRLC releases its neighborhood plan at a public meeting which states Euclid Beach residents must find new homes by September 24th, 2024. 

February 13th, 2023: The UREB tenant’s union hosts a news conference at the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community to demand that the WRLC agree to a compromised plan that would allow them to stay on the property and at the same time create a park at that location.  

Early March: UREB releases a petition to save the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community. UREB demands that the WRLC reverse its decision to close the mobile home park, negotiate in good faith with the union, explore alternative solutions for the park including a reduced footprint resident-owned community, and share all financial information and documentation from the neighborhood plan with the union. 

March 29th, 2023: The UREB tenant’s union and NEOCH staff protest in front of the WRLC’s office to demand negotiation on the future of the park. Euclid Beach residents present the WRLC with over 500 signed petitions to support the residents' demands.  

May 19th, 2023: UREB and NEOCH staff disrupt the WRLC’s ROC in the CLE Breakfast Fundraiser, raising awareness that donors to the WRLC are funding the displacement of a community.  

May 28th, 2023: UREB will host the Thrive! Benefit Concert at Beachland Ballroom. Funds raised will support future organizing by UREB.