Held in the Weinland Park behind Weinland Park Elementary
6:00, Thursday, October 6, 2020
Present
- Resident co-chair Laura Bidwa;
- Residents Roger Beebe, Steve Bollinger (also representing Thrive), Jim Dowdle, Danielle Garson (also representing Meyers & Assoc), John Gifford, Ed Gravatt, Donna Madlener, Chris Micciche (civic association treasurer), Liam Nelligan, Michael Nelligan, Rob Poletto, Jody Poth, Leslie Rummel,;
- Guests Hope Paxson (COCIC/Columbus Land Trust); David Perry and Brett Rohde (for 88 E 9th project); Kirk Marker, Grant Dolven, Chris Gump (Marker Development); Susan Earp (Moody Nolan)
Updates
- Joyce Hughes Park – new park at corner of Grant Ave and E 6th Ave
- Next design meeting on 10/20/20 at 5:30 pm
- First rules/activities meeting on 10/26/20 at 6pm
- New 54 Special Improvement District – runs up North 4th St and along most of E 5th Ave in WP
- Found liaison to represent WPCCA on 54 SID board – Leah Evans at Homeport
- HomeTeam’s illegally altered parking lot on Euclid Ave – still in violation with code; contempt hearing scheduled for 10/19/20
- D&J Carry-out – SW corner of N 4th St and 8th Ave
- Chad Kettler from CPO advised that the property has structural issues, CPO has been “battling” graffiti and squatters over the 5 years they’ve owned the building
- CPO expects to want to demolish the building
- CPO hopes to present viable community-serving redevelopment options in the future, but no timeline
- Laura Bidwa asked residents for feedback
- Donna Madlener asked for engineering reports to see extent of repairs needed. Others requested specific demolition plans.
- Several others said it’s disappointing to think building will be torn down since there are few small-scale retail/commercial buildings left in WP. They fit well in architectural fabric and provide lower-cost commercial rentals.
- It was known that the building needed repairs, why weren’t those repairs done by Campus Partners (previous owner) or CPO? Demolition by neglect.
- If CPO hasn’t come up with a viable use in 5 years, will they ever be able to?
Marker Project at 266-300 E 5th Ave (N 5th St and E 5th Ave)
- Grant Dolven: Update on pedestrian safety issue raised at last month’s meeting – use signage for entrance and exits on N 5th St. Working with city re safety on E 5th Ave, possibly a crosswalk, could use neighborhood support for this
- Chris Gump: Still seeking funding options to allow for some units to be more affordable than current plan
- Could possibly establish a pilot program with Port Authority, $500k to $700k allocated for affordable housing, hoping to keep the money here in WP (ideally in this same project) rather than being used elsewhere
- Working with Jerry Valentine from Renter Mentor to explore other possible options
- Laura: next month’s meeting will discuss all the different things that “affordable” can mean – different programs available and how they’ve been used in WP
- Grant: UAC zoning variance approval went well
Steve Bollinger – Thrive Project at 1206 N 4th St (NE corner of N 4th St and E 5th Ave)
- There may be some elevation changes to the plan, will share details in the next Housing meeting in Nov.
- Looking to have a Gym in some of the planned retail space; a management company would likely run the gym, which is expected to be open to the public
- 3000 to 4000 sq ft of retail space
- 3500 sq ft for possible restaurant
- Still trying to find solutions to allocate some units to be affordable
- UAC meeting approved zoning variances 17-0
Dave Perry – 88 E 9th Ave
- Located behind Gateway parking garage
- Zoned R-4 – looking to rezone as AR-3
- Proposed 135 apartments with 146 parking spaces
- 6-story building
- First floor materials – iron spot brick
- Upper levels – fiber cement and metal panel
- Streetscape: There will be a good amount of landscaping in treelawn on E 9th Ave
- Seeking the following variances:
- Section 3309.14, Height Districts, to permit a 69-foot-tall building in the H-60 Height District (pending 220- 086).
- Section 3321.05(B)(1), Vision Clearance, to reduce the 10’x10′ clear vision triangle at the intersection of E. 9th Avenue and Section Alley to 8’x8′.
- Section 3325.901(A), Density, to reduce lot area per dwelling unit from 700 SF to 391 SF.
- Section 3325.903(A), Landscaped Area and Treatment, to reduce landscaping area behind the most rear portion of the building from 5% of lot area to 0%.
- Section 3325.905(A), Maximum Lot Coverage, to increase permitted lot coverage from 30% to 90%.
- Section 3325.907, Parking, to reduce calculated parking from 480 spaces to 135 spaces.
- Section 3325.909(A)(B), Building Lines, to reduce the calculated building setback line based on buildings to the east and west from 6.5 feet to 3 feet and 4 feet, as depicted on the Site Plan, and to reduce the minimum rear setback from 2 feet to 1 foot.
- Section 3325.911((), Building Separation and Size, to increase the maximum building size from 10,200 SF to 236,000 +/- SF (6 story).
- Section 3325.913, Maximum Floor Area Ratio, to increase FAR from 0.8 to 3.55.
- Section 3325.915, Height, to permit a 69-foot building height.
- Discussion generally questioned size of building; most expressed that size should step down some from Gateway garage height, to serve as transition to much smaller buildings immediately east of the project.
- No vote. They will attend next month’s Housing meeting.
Hope Paxson from COCLT (Community Land Trust)
- Land Trust launched in 2019, funded by the City of Columbus and Franklin County
- The community land trust allows houses to remain affordable to homeowners over time. The civic association voted last year to give vacant parcels to COCLT rather than sell to turn into market-rate homes.
- There are 6 land trust lots in WP
- After homes are built: Homeowner buys the structure, and the land is leased to the homeowner, 99-year lease. Land is owned by the Land Trust. The homes are only sold to those at 120% of Area Median Income or lower.
- Homeowner keeps the equity appreciation of a property when it is sold. Property goes back to COCLT, then the home is sold to another homeowner at an affordable rate.
- Weinland Park parcels are still in a pre-development phase; were unable to start development this year due to funding constraints and COVID
- The goal is to start development in 2021.
- COCLT has built homes in the south-side, near-east side, and Franklinton.
- Thirty-eight homes have been built this year.
- Residents who have lived in these homes have provided favorable feedback.
- Demographics: Average household is at 80% AMI.
- For lots more info, see website: https://coclt.org