Notes from the One Linden Area Commission Leadership Roundtable
I was invited to a Department of Neighborhoods meeting that gathered the North and South Linden Area Commissions with several members of the City
Director Carla Williams-Scott, Dept. Neighborhoods
The Department of Neighborhoods is looking to update the information it vased the One Linden Plan on, as the One Linden Plan's initial survey data is five years old.
Upcoming One Linden Plan Update meeting: A Tuesday in late March; 27th? Marketing to continue.
Shannon Pine, Department of Zoning
Notes for Zoning folks on zoning variances:
- If you need printouts or additional materials, talk to the people
- Assigned planners is the best source for additional questions when you have it
- Parking variances are common request
Lots of 2-family homes in R3 zoning in South Linden. Much of Linden in '70s and '90s downzoned from R4 with apartments to R3 single-family. Planning staff supports the requests to upzone; traffic management does not have concerns. South Linden has been the target of this growth, and the South Side, but these requests may soon be coming to North Linden.
Mayor's priority is to build as much housing as soon as possible, subject to process.
Scales asks: We're trying to decrease time to get applications through; how much time is reasonable?
Pine responds: Best to respond within first month after the application has been received. BZA gets their side of things done in two weeks; City Staff review is done in 2-3 weeks.
Scales asks about density. Pine responds that in much of the city, the density is lower than the area plans recommend. These area plans are posted to the Department of Development's document library. https://www.columbus.gov/planning/documentlibrary/
- South Linden Area Plan updated in 2018 in 2018 as part of C2P2
- North Linden Area Plan was adopted in 2003, amended in 2014. To update, since the city is doing the rezoning process right now, the North Linden Area Commission could choose to adopt the C2P2 plan.
On the subject of parking, Pine says that one space per unit is reasonable.
Scales says that area commissions often ask questions during zoning applications which are not relevant to the subject of the variance. Pine says that these questions are OK to be asked, but it's not reasonable to condition a parking variance on whether or not there's a washer-dryer hookup.
If you don't like the application, you can't hold it up. You just recommend disapproval.
Linden 311 Campaign
Scales presents a PowerPoint about the Linden 311 Campaign. Theme: "Equity isn't Equal". Each neighborhood has different circumstances, and 311 is a way to get the city to allocate the city's resources to achieve better outcomes.
Campaign's goals:
- Increase awareness of 311 services and programs
- Increase utilization of 311 services and programs
Current outreach elements:
- Campaigns on the smart displays in three locations on Cleveland Avenue
- The Area Commission websites
Suggestions that the Department of Neighborhoods has heard:
- Training residents to do 311 requests in the app
- Training students as part of schooling
- Maybe fliers or a door-to-door campaign
- Street signs once there are big 311 improvements to a specific area
- Billboards, suggests one commissioner
Q&A session
How do you send positive feedback? Turns out there's a way to send compliments as a 311 request! Search for "Comp" in the 311 app or website.
My remaining questions:
- The Hudson bike lane - are there plans to connect across I-71?
- Safe Routes to Schools spending and construction - does the City have a map of where they'll be building new sidewalks and paths?
- Bus stuff: COTA Route 31 doesn't show up in trackers?
- Is there a plan to add a mapping component to the zoning portal to make it easier to see applications?
- Has USPS explained why there are only one or two residential deliveries per week for these neighborhoods?