Adrian Marti is scrutinizing a building at St. Clair Avenue and East 67^th Street.

“This one’s not too bad,” Marti, a lead surveyor for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy (WRLC), says early-on in a months-long inventory of all of Cleveland’s 167,157 land parcels.

Marti photographs the two-story 1915 building with his phone and documents it with an app. “Guarded? No. Boarded or broken windows? No... There’s no hydrant. There’s no ADA ramp... Roof? There’s a bit of wear and tear, but I’ll say ‘good.’”

Conservancies used to focus on natural habitats, but a few around the country have begun to preserve farms and cities too. “Western Reserve is on the cutting edge of this,” says Erin Heskett, vice president of conservation initiatives for the Land Trust Alliance.

For an inventory of Cleveland property, Adrian Marti of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy checks out a building with a heartWRLC is supervising some 25 to 30 city inspectors in the Cleveland survey, which began in October and should last into March at least. They’re redoing in more detail a 2015 citywide survey and a 2018 partial update.

Isaac Robb, WRLC vice president of planning, research and urban projects, says, “We’re creating a legacy of data.” It will chronicle changes, which can happen fast, especially in Cleveland’s economy and climate. It’s linked to records of tax addresses, zoning codes, census tract statistics, the city’s rental registry, and more.

A contract being finalized gives WRLC $170,000 for the Cleveland inventory from Rocket Community Fund, Cleveland Foundation, and the nationwide Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The money covers licensing and servicing fees, equipment, materials, and a staff supervisor. The completed survey results will be presented to city officials and partners.

But Sally Martin, Cleveland building and housing director, says of the inventory, “It’s priceless.”

The city has typically overlooked decay until city officials start getting complaints. Martin says the inventory will help the staff be proactive—finding and razing hopeless buildings while saving others as early and cheaply as possible.

The city will make use of $50 million in Federal pandemic relief money for rehabilitation and improvements. Meanwhile, the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition will consult the data in making use of a recently reported $111 million in public and other funds to fight lead poisoning.

Lead poisoning continues to be a problem in Cleveland neighborhoods with 25% of children tested in Cleveland under the age of six have been exposed to lead prior to kindergarten, according to city officials.

The Land Conservancy has worked with partners to protect outlying retreats—such as Russell Uplands Preserve in Chagrin Falls and Medina Marsh. The organization has helped preserve some of the region’s shrinking farmland and make it more sustainable. It has planted many trees on city blocks and created the Garden of Eleven Angels on Imperial Avenue to honor victims of mass murder there. It has also inventoried parcels in many cities, including East Cleveland, Euclid, South Euclid, Garfield Heights, Maple Heights, Warrensville Heights, Akron, Oberlin, Elyria, Lorain, Sandusky, Columbus, Dayton, and Hamilton.

“We view conservation as a holistic system,” Says Robb. “If we lose those farms, the alternative is Ryan Homes. If we do not have healthy spaces in our urban environment, that puts more pressure on the hinterlands.”

The conservancy’s Marti estimates that the Cleveland inventory takes two to five minutes per parcel. Staying on public property, the inspectors look for peeling paint, old windows, and bare dirt near foundations—all common sources of lead poisoning. They look for signs of vacancy. They look for dumped garbage. They evaluate hydrants, sidewalks, and tree lawn trees.

Marti says he loves Cleveland’s architecture. “It’s so beautiful,” he says. He loves walls bedecked with advertisements on top of advertisements. “You get to see so many layers of history.”

He sometimes finds a house sheltering animals instead of people. “Nature takes back the city when there’s a vacancy.”

While checking out properties, the inspectors are often checked out by the occupants. “We’ve had people pounce out— ‘Don’t take a picture of my house! Don’t raise my taxes!’ I give them a card and tell them what’s up,” Marti says. “I’ve had the best conversations. The biggest barkers are the ones that care about their street the most.”