Ahh. Still, no reason why we can't make that a 9-laner. Progress, you know.

Just popped in and read this. Does anyone feel like the parking on High Street should be removed all together to add bike lanes? Short North stretch is already one lane with all the parking on both sides. This would make parking a beotch but I feel the least amount of parking space the less people will favor driving in that area.

Whats your input?

Less on-street parking means more off-street parking lots where buildings should stand. Also, as a pedestrian, I like parked cars as a barrier between me and moving traffic.

Bike lanes are the last thing we need on High. I'm already not shielded by 2000 lbs of metal, so I would not be crazy about worrying that a car might be turning right into me at every curb cut and intersection. Thank you, no. The roundabout is dead, by the way.

The roundabout is unlikely anytime soon. But the error-filled Dispatch story was premature in pronouncing the roundabout dead.

Clintonville commission narrowly adopts two traffic plans

Opponents of the new turn lane on North Broadway vow to keep on fighting plan put forth by task force

By Kathleen L. Radcliff, Columbus Local News

Published: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 - 9:28 AM EDT

 

Clintonville appears to remain a community divided with regard to the findings of North Broadway and North High task force.  The commission voted 5-4 to divide the elements of the street plan concept, with Commissioners Nick Cipiti, John DeFourny, Paul Harris, D Searcy and Dave Southan voting in favor of dividing the one street plan into two elements.  Those two are:

 

* A short-term solution with a left-turn lane, amended to include elements of the Clintonville Neighborhood Plan, with medians, crosswalks, a school speed limit sign and reclassification of North Broadway; and

 

* A long-term plan to involve more research regarding a possible roundabout, as well as the remaining elements of the street plan concept.

 

Each element carried a vote of 5-4, with Cipiti, DeFourny, Harris and Southan voting "No" and Commissioners Mike McLaughlin, Chris Gawronski, Clare Balombin, Mike Folmar and D Searcy approving them.

 

Read more at http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2009/08/12/multiple_papers/news/allbocacsh_20090811_0902am_5.txt

Oh, Clintonville, whatever happened to being that image of being the eclectic, neo-hippy, lesbian refuge in Columbus? Nowadays, a 4-story building on the main street in one of the largest cities in the country is too dense, residents want a vacant lot so that their view of McDonalds isn't obstructed, and every person needs two cars as one space per person isn't enough, nevermind bussing, biking, scootering, etc. 

7-0 Vote Goes Against Mixed-use Proposal

 

Tuesday,October 6, 2009 6:54 PM                                           

By KEVIN PARKS

ThisWeek Staff Writer 

 

The seven Clintonville Area Commission members on hand for last week's meeting voted to oppose a proposed mixed-use development at North High Street and East California Avenue, even though they kind of liked the concept. 

 

Too many variances were being sought and too little in the way of neighborhood support was evident, the commission members indicated to developer Don DeVere and architect Jonathan Barnes. 

 

In fact, some nearby residents voiced vehement opposition to a project they said would lower property values, ruin their views and make parking a potential nightmare. 

 

 

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2009/09/30/mixed-use_proposal.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104&title=7-0+vote+goes+against+mixed-use+proposal

Oh, Clintonville, whatever happened to being that image of being the eclectic, neo-hippy, lesbian refuge in Columbus? Nowadays, a 4-story building on the main street in one of the largest cities in the country is too dense, residents want a vacant lot so that their view of McDonalds isn't obstructed, and every person needs two cars as one space per person isn't enough, nevermind bussing, biking, scootering, etc. 

 

Interesting, isn't it?  Clintonville does so many things well.  But they are notoriously difficult on almost any development. 

 

As for this four-story project, it might not be dead.  According to the article, CAC encourages developers to work with neighbors, the developers only asked for parking variances and didn't present any architectural renderings.  It sounded like the CAC was uncomfortable with the limited amount of information for the request.

By the way, you may have noticed, I combined an earlier Clintonville project thread with the more recent roundabout thread.  Then I added Columbusite's post from the Random Projects thread about the North High Street mixed-use project.

Clintonville is filled with people who don't want change -- who don't want restaurants and don't want alcohol and don't want new construction and don't want anybody to park a car in front of their house and don't want medians on High Street. They want Clintonville to stay as it is. But what Clintonville is is a neighborhood with declining population and density and a tired, underachieving commercial corridor.

Clintonville could be a great neighborhood that rivals the SN, but residents would rather it remain above-average during the day and dead after 5. Where did you find population info on the neighborhood, btw?

Clintonville has some of the same issues that confront the Gaslight district near UC and to extent Old Orchard in Toledo. You want to have a nice vibrant neighborhood, but college students are destructive of the quality of life - esp. public colleges in Ohio and these neighborhoods are all really close to colleges that could overwhelm the adult nature of the 'hood. It was the conservatism that generally kept these neighborhoods from going college in the first place. This is even happening to the area of Westerville near Otterbein right now as the college rental market is pushing out long time single family housing, because the profit potential is so high with students compared to ownership.

Columbusite: I used Census data from 1960 and 2000, with help from friends in the Columbus Planning Division, broke it down by Census tracts, focusing on the seven tracts south of Morse Road, which was the 1950 city boundary. (There was new development in the tracts north of Morse; factoring those in, the total Clintonville population decline was just 18 percent.)

 

dmerkow: In Clintonville, it was not any conservatism that kept the neighborhood from "going college." It was geography. Until recent years, when an increasing percentage of OSU students had cars, students lived in the immediate campus neighborhoods. Even now, students are not a big percentage of Clintonville, and a lot of the students in the duplexes and rowhouses south of North Broadway tend to be graduate students, a lot of them with families. Those students, and the influx of twentysomething grads living here may save Clintonville from itself.

It's higher than an 18% decline then, since Clintonville ends at Morse. North of there is the weird Graceland area before Worthington. Not sure the "going college theory" totally explains the opposition to re-urbanization of the main street. Bexley's main street is right across from Capital, but residents there have welcomed higher density development and two higher-end establishments that serve alcohol on a street that used to be dry. And Bexley is more ritzy than Clintonville by far.

Actually, Clintonville goes all the way to Worthington, according to the city's working definition. The Clintonville Area Commission districts reach north of Morse on both sides of High. And the Planning Division's Clintonville Neighborhood Plan, adopted last year, covers the areas north of Morse.

Small colleges have a different vibe than the 500 trillion pound monster that is OSU. Also I imagine the OSU faculty that live in Clintonville have no desire to see students living around them. As to the urbanized streetscape, I have no idea. Sometimes first ring urban 'hoods have complicated identities about themselves in relation to how urban they are willing to be.

 

Isn't the north part of Clintonville generally considered Beechwold - say north of Morse - the area with the Cape Cods.

Beechwold is south of Morse, north of Henderson. Historically, I believe, it's only west of High. I don't think it's even been "officially" designated a neighborhood, and the boundaries are fuzzy. But as far as the the city is concerned -- and also in the view of many residents -- Beechwold has been subsumed by Clintonville.

I'd say it still exists as far as Craigslist and the rental market in general goes from recent experience.

True. It exists, though in an undefined and unofficial way. I hope it retains some sort of identity.

Some (non)development news from Clintonville.  :wink:

 

Clintonville Area Commission turns down two proposals

Monday,  November 9, 2009 - 5:52 PM

By Kevin Parks, This Week Staff Writer

 

Developers went 0-for-2 with the Clintonville Area Commission last week.  For one it was a second time at the plate, and he went down swinging on a vote of 4-3 against a proposed mixed-use project on the northeast corner of North High Street and East California Avenue.  For the other, it was a first at-bat, and he struck out on a vote of 5-0, with two commission members abstaining.

 

• Developer Don DeVere, whose proposal at the intersection of High and California was rejected by a 7-0 vote at the commission's October meeting, was back with a slightly revised project, but it was not enough to win over a majority of the panel.  DeVere is seeking a variety of variances for his request to construct two buildings at High and California.  The building along High Street would be four stories in the front and three in the back because of the change in grade, while the California Avenue structure would be three stories.  The main building would have 6,000 square feet of retail space.  The remaining square footage of both buildings would contain 26 apartments.

 

• Attorney Don McTigue's request for a variance to expand the permitted office uses in residential properties at 3870 and 3886 N. High St. found no takers among commission members who voted.  McTigue, who used to have his law office in the first floor of one of the two houses at the intersection of North High Street and Acton Road, isn't seeking a change in zoning from the existing single-family.  He said he wants permission for a wider array of commercial office uses, including mental health counselors, landscape design, architect, accountant, optometrist and chiropractor.  "They're not going to sell as single-family residences," McTigue said.

 

Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2009/11/04/CAC_development.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104

The DeVere project goes to the BZA on Tuesday. It can still be approved despite the CAC recommendation against it. Clintonville needs density. It needs people who are drawn to an urban building in the neighborhood -- people who ride bikes and scooters and buses and will not own two cars per unit.

I hereby dub it "Upper Arlingtonville".

Old Beechwold: Debate arises about historic district

Tuesday,  December 1, 2009

By Gary Seman Jr., ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

A debate is taking shape as to whether the whole of Old Beechwold -- a neighborhood defined by its thick foliage, winding roads and meandering streams -- should be included in the community's historic district.  The City of Columbus wants to reconcile its books, saying its codified description of the area's boundaries and maps don't correspond.  "It's sort of a cleanup," said Vince Papsidero, planning administrator of the Department of Development.

 

Right now, there are about 23 properties either fully or partly in the Old Beechwold Historic District, which was established almost 25 years ago.  The original intent was to have all of the 200 or so parcels included, Papsidero said.  Columbus has 18 historic districts. Any exterior modifications, significant landscaping work or major changes to a site must receive approval from the Historic Resources Commission.  Old Beechwold, known for its New England-like charm and varied architectural styles, is bordered by the Olentangy River, West Jeffrey Place, High Street and an area between Rustic Place and Beaumont Avenue.  It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985.

 

Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2009/11/24/Debate-arises-about-historic-district.html

Really, it goes north up to Rathborne. The homes north of W Jeffrey Place fit in with the rest of the large homes along winding roads. In my map I also included the strip of High where businesses claim the Beechwold moniker. And when did they start calling it "Old" Beechwold? Is it so they can get an arch and then change it again to "Olde Beechwolde"?

^ Actually, it was called "Beechwalde" before it was called Beechwold. That was the name Joseph Jeffrey gave his estate. The "old," however, is arbitrary and cutesy. And new.

I'm pretty sure Cincinnati has the market cornered on "Olde" and "Towne".

Anyone know what they're building at the corner of High and Dodridge? They recently demolished the old Sunoco station that was there and work seems to be rapidly moving on a new building but haven't heard what it's for?

Anyone know what they're building at the corner of High and Dodridge? They recently demolished the old Sunoco station that was there and work seems to be rapidly moving on a new building but haven't heard what it's for?

 

According to the City of Columbus Permit Tracking system, it looks like it will be a new convenience store with a gas pump canopy structure for Turkey Hill (http://www.turkeyhillstores.com/locations/locations.asp).  Below is a copy of the permit for the convenience store structure.  The gas pump canopy is on a seperate permit.

 

From: https://citizenaccess.columbus.gov/citizenaccess/

 

Work Location:

2685 N HIGH ST

COLUMBUS OH 43202

 

Project Description:

SHELL PERMIT ONLY FOR A 1 STORY CONCRETE/WOOD CONVENIENCE STORE(TURKEY HILL). 

 

 

 

FWIW, Turkey Hill is Kroger's gas brand - compete with Giant Eagle's Get Go among others - points and the like.

Clintonville Area Neighborhood Plan

Community's vision could become reality

Wednesday,  January 27, 2010 - 11:41 AM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Clintonville has not failed to plan, but now comes the hard part of trying to ensure that the plan does not fail.  A subcommittee of the Clintonville Area Commission's planning and development committee, headed by District 5 representative Nick Cipiti, is working on implementing the Clintonville Area Neighborhood Plan, which was adopted by Columbus City Council on March 2, 2009.

 

"The plan provides a comprehensive vision for shaping neighborhoods based on existing conditions, needs and goals to bring continuity as we move from a 'streetcar suburb' into the 21st century," Cipiti wrote in an e-mail that accompanied documents relating to the efforts of the subcommittee.  "It supports continuing current land uses but also considers recommendations for mixed use structures on High Street and Indianola corridors.

 

While it is not specifically recommended in the Clintonville Area Neighborhood Plan, Cipiti indicated that subcommittee members also have identified reducing the speed limit on North High Street to 25 mph as something that "would be a benefit to residents and merchants."  Other long-term objectives include adding bike lanes and bike sharing kiosks on priority streets, creating walking paths to improve pedestrian access to retail and services, and consider planted medians near selected intersections along High Street and Indianola Avenue, according to Cipiti.

 

Full article at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/01/27/0128clvision-plan_ln.html?sid=104

N. Broadway moving toward recognition

Thursday,  February 18, 2010 - 1:07 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

A public hearing set for Tuesday, Feb. 23, represents the next step in the process for the eventual inclusion of North Broadway on the National Register of Historic Places.  "This meeting won't decide anything official," said Barbara Powers, head of the inventory and registration department for the Ohio Historic Preservation Office.  She oversees the National Register process for the state.

 

The hearing, prompted by a National Register requirement when more than 50 properties are involved in a nomination, marks the opening of public comment that will be accepted through an April 9 meeting of the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board.

 

At Tuesday evening's public hearing, Ohio Historic Preservation Office personnel will be on hand along with Nancy A. Recchie, a consultant on historic preservation issues who has been working with North Broadway residents interested in achieving the designation, to answer questions. 

 

Full article at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/02/17/North-Broadway-National-Register.html?sid=104

Cipiti to advance idea of architectural review

Wednesday,  February 17, 2010 - 12:16 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

It won't be easy to accomplish and it may take quite a while to get it done, but Clintonville Area Commission member Nick Cipiti thinks now is the time to consider creating an architectural review board.  Too often, the District 5 representative said, developers have brought proposals to the zoning and variance committee, the planning and development committee or the CAC as a whole that either don't have detailed architectural renderings or, when built, don't look much like what was originally presented.

 

Neither the commission nor its committees have much say, anyway, according to Cipiti.  "We don't have that luxury right now of being able to approve buildings and know what they're going to look like," he said.

 

He does not want the creation of an architectural review body to be seen as throwing up additional roadblocks to development.  "We've got a reputation of being anti-business in Clintonville, anti-new development," he said.  "I certainly don't want to add to that image we've got. But we do need to have some kind of input as far as what the town is going to look like, what the main arteries are going to look like, because that is the face of Clintonville."

 

Full article at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/02/17/0218clcipiti-review_ln.html?sid=104

COLUMBUS CIVIC THEATER 

Curtain goes up March 4, renovations permitting

Wednesday,  February 24, 2010 - 2:04 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Renovation of a former gas station into a theater is continuing, and Richard Albert predicts the first production of the Columbus Civic Theater in its new home will open on schedule March 4.  "We're going to make it," the founder and artistic director of the nonprofit group asserted last week -- although he was standing in the middle of what was definitely a work in progress.

 

Contractor Ralph Butts of B & R Consulting admitted he would have preferred a later date.  "It's a very tight schedule," he said.  But Butts is working under the deadline to make the restrooms ADA compliant, get the doors to open outward instead of inward, prepare wooden tiers to accept used seating on its way from Florida and make a curved stage inside the building at 3837 Indianola Ave. that was once a service station, an auto repair business, a used car lot and even doggy day care.

 

A 50-seat theater where plays by the likes of Henrik Ibsen and George Bernard Shaw will be staged is definitely a change of use.  The main entrance into the new home for Columbus Civic Theater, which was incorporated in September 2008, will be off Indianola Avenue.  The former gas station at the intersection of Indianola Avenue and Blenheim Road doesn't offer much storage space for costumes or props, Albert said, although in choosing the location the 14-foot ceilings offered hope of creating some areas to keep theater property above a green room to be built to the left of the stage.

 

Full article at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/02/24/0225clcolumbus-theater_ln.html?sid=104

Clintonville seeks slower pace on High Street

Commission also wants 25-mph limit on North Broadway

Friday,  February 26, 2010 - 5:33 AM

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A push to reduce the speed limit on N. High Street and North Broadway through Clintonville could turn into an effort to make the entire neighborhood a 25-mph zone.  The Clintonville Area Commission says it will likely first ask the city to reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 25 mph on High Street between Arcadia Avenue and the Worthington city line, and on North Broadway between Rt. 315 and I-71, said Michael Folmar, a member of the Clintonville Area Commission.

 

"What we hear from residents in the neighborhood is High Street is still not pedestrian friendly," said Mike McLaughlin, a commission member.  Reducing the speed limit on High Street is a good start, say members, who may bring it up at next Thursday's commission meeting.

 

MAP: PROPOSED SPEED LIMIT REDUCTION

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/02/26/clintonville-seeks-slower-pace-on-high.html?sid=101

Changing a sign is pointless unless you re-design the road for slower traffic through curb bumpouts and medians, i.e. physical changes which actually slow traffic and make it easier and safer for pedestrians to get around. Throw some sharrows on the right hand lanes and more cyclists like myself will help calm traffic too. Funny that the city's public service/transportation division says that they can't do a one-size-fits-all approach for slower speeds, but that's the exact same approach they use for streets to have a 35 MPH and faster by designing them for those speeds in the first place. A great point that is raised is the slower speeds in all vibrant businesses districts around the city.

 

The other factor which demonstrates that this is a no brainer is the fact that most Dispatch comments are against it.

Changing a sign is pointless unless you re-design the road for slower traffic through curb bumpouts and medians, i.e. physical changes which actually slow traffic and make it easier and safer for pedestrians to get around.

 

More on that angle here:

 

http://xingcolumbus.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/clintonville-area-commission-seeks-lower-speed-limit/

CAC rejects Turkey Hill rezoning request

Tuesday,  March 9, 2010 - 6:07 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

A collective scoff was heard from the audience at last week's Clintonville Area Commission meeting when an executive for a proposed Turkey Hill convenience store and gas station at 5271 N. High St. defended the proposal.  Steve Fuller, regional operations manager for Turkey Hill Midwest, sought to blunt the objections of nearby residents along Westview Avenue to a gas station being so close to their homes.  "We consider ourselves a convenience store that happens to sell fuel," he said.

 

They weren't buying, and neither were the members of the CAC.  By a vote of 8-1, the commission voted against the requested rezoning that would have permitted gas pumps to accompany another convenience store in the area.

 

Turkey Hill intends to continue seeking approval for the North High Street location and is preparing to appear before the city's Development Commission on April 8, company spokeswoman Denise Clark said this week.

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/03/03/CAC-rejects-Turkey-Hill.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104

One more article on the Clintonville Area Commission's rejection of the Turkey Hill gas station/convenience store rezoning request.  This article contains a site plan and rendering of the project (below at the links).

 

Clintonville commission rejects Turkey Hill station

Company officials still can move forward with Columbus Development Commission even without CAC blessing

By KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 3:33 PM EST

 

One thing not lacking at Clintonville Area Commission's regular meeting Thursday, March 4, was heat, as Turkey Hill representatives found their goose cooked, for now.  Commissioners voted 8-1 to not recommend approval for a gas station and 4,000-square foot-convenience store on the vacant lot at the corner of North High Street and Westview Avenue, to applause from the audience.

 

Company officials reduced their request for six refueling pumps back down to their original five.  They also offered two rows of evergreen trees as a buffer, placement of the dumpster on the northwest portion of the site, no delivery truck parking on Westview Avenue and alley improvements.

 

The proposal's next steps will be a hearing before the Columbus Development Commission, followed by a hearing before Columbus City Council.

 

PROJECT SITE PLAN

 

PROJECT RENDERING

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2010/03/12/the_booster/news/boallbocac_20100309_0946am_3.txt

What's needed is an urban building to help better connect Old North Columbus with Clintonville.

Anyone know what they're building at the corner of High and Dodridge? They recently demolished the old Sunoco station that was there and work seems to be rapidly moving on a new building but haven't heard what it's for?

 

According to the City of Columbus Permit Tracking system, it looks like it will be a new convenience store with a gas pump canopy structure for Turkey Hill (http://www.turkeyhillstores.com/locations/locations.asp).  Below is a copy of the permit for the convenience store structure.  The gas pump canopy is on a seperate permit.

 

From: https://citizenaccess.columbus.gov/citizenaccess/

 

Work Location:

2685 N HIGH ST

COLUMBUS OH 43202

 

Project Description:

SHELL PERMIT ONLY FOR A 1 STORY CONCRETE/WOOD CONVENIENCE STORE(TURKEY HILL). 

 

Columbusite snapped a construction photo of this project in the High St, Old North Columbus - Spring 2010 photo thread:

 

The Terraces on Walhalla burned down and had to be rebuilt. Here it is today. I only wish Clintonville would welcome more denser development like this than fight it tooth and nail.

 

Clintonville opposes density at its own peril. The area commission opposed a four-story building at California & High in November, and then the BZA upheld the opposition. The only Yes vote for the project on the BZA was elderly Clintonville Realtor Paul Love, who looked to the future and said other neighborhoods would kill for such a project, and that soon developers would stay away from Clintonville, which would begin to see decline.

I'm not sure Clintonville will decline, but I do think it will limit its future potential growth as a keystone neighborhood for the city. There will always be college faculty and staff and grad students that want to live close to OSU without being in the student ghetto.

1904 Clintonville school's future in limbo

District officials hold public brainstorming meeting today

Tuesday,  March 23, 2010 - 2:52 AM

By Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Although Columbus City Schools will spend $10.9 million to renovate and expand Clinton Elementary School in Clintonville, it won't fix the century-old township school right behind it.  The renovations include adding nearly 10,000 square feet, so the 1904 building will not be needed.

 

That has some worried.  "As preservationists, we hate to see a well-preserved, sound building lost," said Amy Minnick, field representative for the Columbus Landmarks Foundation.  The school district is working with the foundation to see what can be done with the brick-and-stone township school.  Officials will tour the building at 5:30p.m. today and hold a brainstorming meeting from 6 to 7 p.m. at the North Broadway United Methodist Church, 48 E. North Broadway.

 

The 9,422-square-foot township school building on Clinton Heights Avenue opened in 1904 and is still used for classrooms.  A playground separates it from the 43,500-square-foot elementary school facing N. High Street.  The larger school was built in 1922 and houses 400 students.

 

PHOTO OF THE 1904 SCHOOL BUILDING

 

LOCATION MAP OF BOTH BUILDINGS

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/23/1904-clintonville-schools-future-in-limbo.html?sid=101

Wesley Glen's wellness center moves forward but parking lot will not

BY KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Thursday, March 11, 2010 - 5:23 PM EST

 

It was thumbs-up for a wellness center last week, but thumbs-down for paving over several residential lots.  The Clintonville Area Commission voted "Yes" Thursday to approve a wellness center at Wesley Glen, on Fenway Road just north of Graceland Shopping Center. 

 

The facility will offer improved services to its residents, and could be utilized by nearby needing occupational and physical therapy services, said attorney Mike Shannon, representing Wesley Glen.  But the facility will eliminate some parking on the site.  That's why officials for the seniors residential facility were asking for a new parking lot, with 128 spaces, to be built on two lots currently zoned residential at 28 and 34 Fenway Road.

 

Commissioners voted 9-0 against the new parking lot.  "This is not about whether we love older people and it's not about Wesley Glen," CAC Chairwoman and District 9 Representative D Searcy said.  "This is about land use."  According to the Clintonville Neighborhood Plan, there is to be no commercial intrusion into the neighborhoods, she said.  "We want them to succeed, but we don't want them to succeed with this particular parking lot," she said.

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2010/03/12/the_booster/news/bocacwesle_20100308_0500pm_6.txt

Clintonville residents share '1904' ideas

With renovations coming for Clinton, district must decide whether to demolish or transfer the adjacent historic school facility

BY KATHLEEN L. RADCLIFF, COLUMBUS LOCAL NEWS

Published: Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 10:34 AM EDT

 

The 1904 Building is located on the grounds of Clinton Elementary School.  It's currently home to fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms, as well as the school's learning specialists.  But Clinton is scheduled for redevelopment, to begin this fall and completed before fall 2012.  With the work, there's no use for the 1904 structure by Columbus City Schools.

 

The facility was the main topic of conversation March 23.  That's when about 35 residents and community activists gathered to meet with Columbus school officials in the sanctuary at North Broadway United Methodist Church to brainstorm ideas as to the building's potential future use.  With that, four groups gathered with a facilitator.  They were asked to envision a future for the 1904 building, and commit their thoughts to large yellow legal pads, voting for what they think best with red dots. 

 

A move for the building across the street to the site of what was formerly Clintonville Electric, garnered many votes, as did the possibility of a Clintonville museum.  A move to California Avenue and North High Street -- to set up an alternative site for the Clintonville-Beechwold Community Resources Center -- generated a sprinkling of red dots.  Other ideas included setting up non-profit neighborhood meeting space, an arts guild or artists studios, and a senior center or children's center.

 

FULL ARTICLE: http://www.columbuslocalnews.com/articles/2010/03/30/multiple_papers/news/allbo1904b_20100330_0704am_4.txt

Here is the graphic of the proposed Clintonville roundabout included with the article...

 

City officials reject roundabouts

Friday,  April 2, 2010 - 4:31 PM

By KEVIN PARKS, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Stick a fork in the Clintonville roundabouts and let the East North Broadway widening battle begin.  At Thursday night's monthly meeting of the Clintonville Area Commission, chairwoman D Searcy read a letter from two city officials who wrote a controversial left turn lane from East North Broadway southbound onto North High Street met with their approval.

 

Boyce Safford III, director of the Department of Development, and Public Service director Mark Kelsey went on to outline a host of reasons why the only slightly less controversial roundabouts at several North Broadway intersections would not work.

 

Following an hours-long, highly contentious meeting last Aug. 6, CAC members approved, by 5-4 votes, a task force's recommendation to widen 200 feet of East North Broadway to accommodate the turn lane and to request serious consideration of roundabouts, including one at North High and North Broadway, to alleviate traffic congestion.

 

In the letter, Kelsey and Safford wrote that they had decided "to move forward with the left turn lane" after reviewing the CAC's recommendation.

 

Full article: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/03/31/Clintonville-roundabouts.html?type=rss&cat=&sid=104

Update on a proposed North Broadway nationally registered historic district in Clintonville...

 

N. Broadway moving toward recognition

Thursday,  February 18, 2010 - 1:07 PM

By Kevin Parks, ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

Full article: http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2010/02/17/North-Broadway-National-Register.html?sid=104

Elegant old homes nominated for register

Clintonville district noted for history and architecture

Saturday,  April 10, 2010 - 2:51 AM

By Alan Johnson, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

A section of E. North Broadway in Clintonville that includes dozens of stately turn-of-the-century homes has been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places.

 

The East North Broadway Historic District, bounded on the west by Broadway Place and on the east by North Broadway Lane, was recommended for national recognition yesterday by the Ohio Historic Site Preservation Advisory Board.  The final decision will be made by the National Park Service, which oversees the register.

 

The application said the 166 buildings are part of a district judged "significant for both its architecture and history.

 

MAP OF PROPOSED NORTH BROADWAY HISTORIC DISTRICT

 

Full article: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/04/10/elegant-old-homes-nominated-forregister.html?sid=101

Old Beechwold: Debate arises about historic district

Tuesday,  December 1, 2009

By Gary Seman Jr., ThisWeek Staff Writer

 

A debate is taking shape as to whether the whole of Old Beechwold -- a neighborhood defined by its thick foliage, winding roads and meandering streams -- should be included in the community's historic district.  The City of Columbus wants to reconcile its books, saying its codified description of the area's boundaries and maps don't correspond.  "It's sort of a cleanup," said Vince Papsidero, planning administrator of the Department of Development.

 

Right now, there are about 23 properties either fully or partly in the Old Beechwold Historic District, which was established almost 25 years ago.  The original intent was to have all of the 200 or so parcels included, Papsidero said.  Columbus has 18 historic districts. Any exterior modifications, significant landscaping work or major changes to a site must receive approval from the Historic Resources Commission.  Old Beechwold, known for its New England-like charm and varied architectural styles, is bordered by the Olentangy River, West Jeffrey Place, High Street and an area between Rustic Place and Beaumont Avenue.  It has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985.

 

Full story at http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/content/clintonville/stories/2009/11/24/Debate-arises-about-historic-district.html

An update on this Old Beechwold historic district article from Decemer 1, 2009 (see above).  I must say that I didn't realize the magnitude of this "historic screw-up" until a map was published with the more recent Dispatch article (see below).  The map shows the huge difference between the larger national historic district boundaries and the much smaller city historic district boundaries.  The larger boundary was what everyone assumed to be the city historic district - the one that includes the city design guidelines that restrict what you can or cannot do with your house and property.

 

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Columbus neighborhood discovers it's not 'historic'

City error means residents free of preservation rules

Wednesday,  March 31, 2010 - 2:51 AM

By Mark Ferenchik, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

 

Boundaries are boundaries, except when they're not, and that's what has some residents of Old Beechwold in a funk.  For 25 years, residents of the North Side neighborhood thought they lived in the Old Beechwold Historic District, and they followed the restrictions placed on what they could do to their houses.

 

Now, they are finding out that a screw-up of historic proportions places most residents outside the district and makes their houses immune to its strict rules.  "There was an error in the way the boundary (description) was written," said Vince Papsidero, Columbus' planning administrator.  How bad was the mistake?  The city's boundary actually cuts through a number of properties, including the house Chad Morrison bought on W. Royal Forest Boulevard in 2008. 

 

Neighborhood-association officials are writing to residents this week explaining the problem, and the city plans to send surveys in May or June asking residents whether they want to start over in creating a district.  In the meantime, preservation rules don't apply to anyone there. 

 

The results of the city's survey will be sent to the Historic Resources Commission and then to the City Council to guide its decision on whether to re-create the district.

 

MAP LINK:  MAP SHOWING THE TWO DIFFERENT HISTORIC DISTRICT BOUNDARIES IN OLD BEECHWOLD

 

Full article: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/03/31/copy/neighborhood-discovers-its-not-historic.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

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From the earlier article:  "The City of Columbus wants to reconcile its books, saying its codified description of the area's boundaries and maps don't correspond.  "It's sort of a cleanup," said Vince Papsidero, planning administrator of the Department of Development."  "It's sort of a cleanup."  No kidding, Vince!!!  Because of that quote, Mr. Papsidero is now the early front runner for '2010 Understatement of the Year'!!!  :lol:

 

My LTTE on the proposed left-turn lane in on N Broadway & High.

Turn lane will cater to motorist scofflaws

 

Monday,  April 19, 2010 3:01 AM                                                                                 

 

The April 7  Dispatch article "Left-turn-lane plan irritates many in  Clintonville" clearly demonstrates that while city leaders will talk about making improvements in safety  for the lives of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists, they're too busy wasting money catering to  motorists.

Here we have the city development director, Boyce Safford III,  proposing a nearly $400,000 plan to accommodate lawbreaking motorists. Just imagine the outrage if that  money were spent to placate lawbreaking cyclists.

The money is to be spent on a new left-turn lane where motorists are currently illegally turning left and holding up traffic. The  obvious solution here is to use the money instead to make that road safer for all users while  generating revenue from motorist scofflaws.

Adding curb bump-outs to shorten the distance to cross a very wide  stretch of N. High Street and possibly a few tree-lined medians like those on Gay Street not only  would make it safer for pedestrians, but would make this urban business district more attractive  for customers, business owners and developers.

KEITH MORRISColumbus