North Linden Area Commission Regular Meeting May 17, 2018
- City Reports
- Environmental things
- North Linden Area Commission Annual meeting and elections
- Planning and Development
- Zoning
- Neighborhood reports
I arrived around 6:40, during the presentation from Columbus Ohio Progressives.
City Reports
City Council
During discussion between the City Council rep Christina and the Commission, it was suggested that there could be a better community calendar. Not necessarily something that's only online or smartphone.
Blueprint Columbus
BluePrint Columbus is a citywide program to eliminate overflows from combined storm and sanitary sewers by reducing the amount of stormwater that enters the sewer system.
The representative of BluePrint Columbus reports "nothing earth-shattering" as far as updates go; the city has put orange barrels in place to simulate the bump-outs for street narrowing and rain gardens. There's a hotline number on those barrels to provide feedback on the barrels. They will be taken down tomorrow, May 18.
Fire Department
It's hydrant-flushing season; this might affect tap water color or taste. The city is calling affected homeowners.
Fire Station 16 progress update: property has been bought, the presenter says she's working on moving it up in the construction order. It will be located at 1465 Oakland Park Avenue.
One commissioner expresses concern with the chicanes at Medina, which need to be removed for the fire department's ease of access down the street. A representative of the fire department says that they would slow response time south of Weber. A councilmember said that the fire department's opposition to the chicanes was not sufficient to justify removal; community support is needed.
After the meeting, I emailed the Columbus Division of Fire public information officer asking for more information. Battalion Chief Steve Martin responded. Regarding the location of the chicanes, Martin wrote, "Fire was not involved in any discussions regarding this that I have been made aware of. You will need to contact Columbus Public Service for that information."
When emailed for comment on whether they had received any concerns about chicanes or other traffic-control devices on Medina Avenue, the Department of Public Service created a 311 service ticket and assigned it to the Division of Traffic Management.
Martin said that the new station will be located at the intersection of Oakland Park Avenue and Medina Avenue, replacing the commercial property on the southeast side of the intersection. "It is still too early in the process to have any press releases put out. Other than the address we are still waiting to see what it will look like, when it will be built, how much it will cost."
Linden-McKinley STEM Academy Site-Based council
There's an unspecified thing on June 24.
Stinziano appearance
Columbus City Council president pro tempore Michael Stinziano made a momentary appearance, during which he announced his personal cell phone number. Nothing noteworthy was said.
I'm amused that when he left the meeting, after taking his suit jacket off, instead of hanging it from a hanger from a hook in his car, he hung the jacket's collar directly on the car's hook.
Northern Lights Resource Guide
The departure of the Kroger at the Northern Lights shopping center also took out some non-food services. Franklin County is working on a resource guide for residents.
(This resource guide was handed out during the next meeting.)
Environmental things
Liquor Permits Process
The commission reminds the assembled constituents that area commissions can object to liquor permits, so if you have worries, contact the area commission to oppose any permit's renewal petition. During contested liquor permit hearings, the permitting commission would like to have contact information for people who oppose, not just their names.
This is a follow-up to discussion during the previous meeting.
North Linden Area Commission Annual meeting and elections
Annual elections will be at the annual meeting, voting in person on June 21. Two residential seats and 2 business seats are open; votes are at-large within the seats. To run, 25 signatures are needed.
Candidate information is in the North Linden Area Commission public-access Google Drive folder.
Planning and Development
C2P2 Early Adoption
This section of the meeting concerned a motion to become an early adopter of the Columbus Citywide Planning Policies initiative, also known as C2P2. Alex Sauersmith and Jackie Yeoman were the Columbus planning division representatives at this meeting. They brought with them a slide deck about the planning process (PDF, 4 megabytes).
Notable aspects of the presentation:
- A lot of Columbus' population growth since 1980 was families; Columbus' Planning Division expects that the majority of population growth by 2050 will be in single- and 2-person households with smaller residences, more walkable areas, and more transportation options. Yet, all this growth will still be under the 1950 density levels, because Columbus has grown by 50 square miles since then.
In the past, the city has worked iwth area commissions to develop land use plans per area, affecting land use and land development. The past process was to talk individually to each commission, then take approved plans to city council to get approval at that level.
North Linden's plan amendment was adopted in 2014 and is pretty fresh, with good policies in it, but the oldest plan is the 1990 Bryce plan. There's a lot of differences and inconsistencies.
The new approach, Columbus Citywide Planning POlicies, C2P2, are pretty simililar to old guidelines, so the primary difference is in how the policies are developed and approved. All neighborhoods would receive latest guidelines. Draft version is available on website. The plan is similar to the 2014 Linden plan; they're ust offering the new plans to all areas.
"Benefits of new approach" slide. Presenter says it's good to have consistent city-wide policies, hopefully updated every 2 years, automatically applying to all areas where C2P2 has been adopted. Opt-in on an area level.
Top 3 items in second slide on page 6 would be updated city-wide, area-specific would be updated by each reporter.
Does not affect zoning code or city law.
Requests from C2P2 tonight are #1 and #2 on slide 2 on page 11. No rush on early adption; will be multiple options to opt-in.
Nothing will be taken to city council without every area commission having opted in; looking to late 2018 citywide implementation.
These guidelines only apply to zoning variances.
Question from the audience: "Is this what other cities are doing these days?" Response is that it's a hybrid, really. In 1983 Columbus did do a comprehensive plan that addressed things that are not addressed in modern land-use plans, but it didn't address area-specific land-use proposals. C2P2 is meant to be a hybrid that unites the city-wide plans with area-specific plans.
The commission debated whether to approve it this meeting; there was a motion to approve and a second. Walt wants to have more discussion. The vote is very split, but the motion to become an early adopter of C2P2 is approved.
Columbus Recreation and Parks
Linden Community Center and Park updates
There'll be an open house on Linden Park changes on May 30 at Linden Park at 6 p.m.
Audubon Park
Rayna Morgan says that Columbus Parks is looking for feedback on proposed updates to Audubon Park as well. Rayna encourages people to dream big, as construction is starting this year, projected completion end of this year. There's a post on the NLAC Facebook Page about the Audubon Park changes, with a map of the post-update park.
I emailed Columbus parks with several questions about the Audubon Park proposal, to get a bigger version of the map. You can download a low-res PDF, 399 KB,, or the first and second halves of the engineering drawings for the park.
Here's a portion of the email conversation I had with Nancy Colvin in Columbus' Recreatino and Parks Department:
Will there be a shelter house at the park after the present one is torn down?
We had bid a new open shelter as an alternate. However, this item came in over budget and will not be included in this project. There are no plans to add an open shelter in the near future.
Will the existing picnic benches be replaced?
Since we were unable to include the open shelter, we will be looking to add a couple of picnic tables to the park.
The plan doesn't include changes to lighting in the park. The new eight-foot-wide walking path doesn't connect to Audubon Road or to Homecroft Drive, but it does connect to the sidewalk along Audubon in the northeast corner of the park. People approaching the park from the south on Audubon or from Homecroft Drive will need to walak across the grass to reach the loop path.
Smart Columbus
There's some sort of Smart Columbus program, says John Lathram, that is in limbo but will start up next month.
Linden Safe Streets is back this summer.
Linden Safe Streets is back for another summer; this program is cops on bikes in Linden and several other Columbus neighborhoods.
Zoning
Demolition Permit 1803695, 1388 Loretta, Garage.
The presenter was the owner of the garage, which has been inspected and judged unsafe twice; the owner was told to come here to ask for a recommendation. The garage is wood. The demolition will be done by her family members, which explains the demolition value of $50, which is unusually low.
Motion to recommend was approved.
Demolition Permit 1803506, 3896 Karl, Carage
Approved.
Neighborhood reports
South Linden
Peggy invites us to Jazz in the Park.
Next zoning and code enforcement meeting is june 1 at the Linden branch library.
Walt's remarks
Weber is pretty bad from McGuffey west to Westerville RoadPick the Halfway point between I-71 and Cleveland Avenue. That's McGuffey. Westerville Road is just west of Cleveland Avenue.; it's turning into pothole central.
Jennifer says that people should report potholes and road conditions via 311.