Cedar Lee District in Cleveland Heights is still recovering from apartment fire

Cleveland Heights, Ohio – Destiny Burns, owner of Cle Urban Winery in Cleveland Heights, says her Wednesday started with a bang.

“I got a call from my neighbor on the upper floor that there were a few fire engines here and I should come here,” she said. “So I did it and here was a car.”

Burns tells 3News shortly before 1 p.m., a driver lost control and drove to the back of the winery in Lee Road, part of the Cedar Lee district, who already had to do with the failure of a destructive apartment fire in January.

“Apparently a mistake with brakes and gas, and we lost the support wall, the support pillar here,” said Burns about the crash on Wednesday. “Fortunately, we were about two feet from the … wall of the winery, which is our tasting room. We were very close to an almost miss today.”

Cleveland Heights firefighters and their partners reacted to the scene. Fortunately, Burns was injured, but she and her neighbors are shaken.

“Just another challenge on the bingo card 2025 that I didn't see,” she said.

The area is still recovering after a massive fire has destroyed the Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook apartment complex under construction. The Cedar Road is now closed between Lee and Goodman Roads, which leads to traffic delays and what Burns describes as a decline in customers who come to companies in the district, especially with limited parking spaces.

She hopes that things can turn around soon.

“Please come to Lee Road, please support the shops here,” she asked. “We love you, we need you. We are so grateful to our first aiders that we can react to these things and protect ourselves.

“Hopefully we are now ready for 2025. We could use a clear run from Easy Street for a while. That would be better.”

The neighborhood received a little relief last week when the city of Cleveland Heights reopened the Cedar-Lee parking garage after weeks of inactivity. Business owners are confident that they can give the area an urgently needed thrust.