My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Ohio
Hi, I'm new to the forums and come seeking advice.
I currently rent from a realty company and I am 5 months into the lease. In the lease, it states that -
"Tenant shall be responsible for the replacement of all cracked or broken glass, windows, or doors to Premise regardless of cause, with or without a police report. "
The lease is a scanned/copied/disseminated ad infinitum type lease, where it covers everything and the kitchen sink purely because of the number of different properties this company leases out. However, this particular property that I happen to be leasing is a renovated storefront-turned-apartment. The storefront-turned-apartment is placed right on the sidewalk near a busy intersection, and has 6 large glass storefront panels facing the street (each roughly 3 feet by 4 ft). A car recently drove by, kicked up a stone, and left a dent in one of these panels. The landlord has now fined us for the cost to repair it (>$1000).
However, the storefront panels in these apartments aren't used as glass or windows. Tenants are required to have blinds/shades in place within a certain number of days, and every one of them has the blinds/curtains drawn tight to get some level of privacy. When asked if we could do anything to prevent future incidental damage, the landlord said no, that no modifications to the property are permitted.
I'm not looking to get out of paying the fine (though I haven't yet as I mull it over), it's a crazy lease and I was crazy not to think of this hypothetical, however, is there anything I can do? I feel awfully vulnerable with winter starting and 6 panels just asking to be bruised/shattered.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

