Cleveland, OH Zoning Overlays & Bonuses: Downtown Design Guide (2026)

01). 02, no Building Permit can issue without design approval by the City Planning Commission or its Director for projects in designated Design Review Districts, new residential development where residential use occupies at least 50% of the building, new retail/office/institutional construction meeting the same 50% threshold, public-agency construction, Planned Unit Development districts, and Transit Oriented Development Zone projects; Landmark-designated structures instead go through the Landmarks Commission. Applications route first to a Local Design Review Advisory Committee, which must meet within five days of a complete application and recommend approval, conditional approval or disapproval, then to the City Planning Commission, which must act within forty-five days.

The Director may approve minor projects administratively without committee referral. 07 sets the substantive design guidelines the Committee and Commission apply: alterations and new development must be compatible in scale, material, color, placement and character with the property and its surroundings (division (a)); contemporary design consistent with a building's own era is encouraged rather than fake-historic styling (division (b)); distinguishing original architectural features must not be diminished (division (c)); replacement materials must closely match the original (division (d)); exterior cleaning must use the gentlest method, with sandblasting prohibited where it would damage facing materials (division (e)); parking lots must be screened with evergreen shrubbery and, where buildings sit along the street line, located behind buildings (division (g)); and signs must meet both Zoning Code standards and the chapter's own placement and compatibility rules, which prevail in a conflict (division (i)). 05).