Westland Area Commission

August 16, 2000

The meeting was called to order at 7:40pm. Present were Daniel Province, chair, Betty Balthaser, Virginia Frank, Mike Hurd, Glen Hymer, Libby Hoang, Dorothy Jantzen, JoEllen Locke, Mike McKay, Tom Morris, Jamie Mueller, Bill Saxton, Brenda Wagner, and. Rick Weber. Woodson was excused. Also present were Jerry Billman, Aimee Bowie, Jeff Brown, Erika Castro, Janice Collette, Rusty Reed, Mike Shannon, Ike Stage, Carolee Uits, Steve Ulrey, and others.

Province requested that WAC appoint Janice Collette to fill the position as representative from the South-Western City Schools, that ends April 30, 2002. Saxton so moved. Morris seconded. Saxton said that she is replacing Rinehart in this position. Her official title, within the school system, is Personnel Supervisor.

Motion passed unanimously.

Zoning Committee (Saxton): Saxton introduced zoning issue Z00-041, a request to establish a video store on the corner of Norton Road and Sullivant Avenue. That property is now zoned C-5, and the new zoning would be a down-zoning to C-4. The WAC zoning committee unanimously approved this request.

Saxton introduced Mike Shannon, attorney, representing Family Video.

Shannon distributed copies of a description of the proposed development. Shannon said that he has been an attorney for developers for about ten years. Prior to that, he was employed in government for sixteen years. He is currently a member of City Council in Whitehall. He therefore has a great appreciation for brevity.

The issue is the northwest corner of Sullivant and Norton. The property is currently zoned C-5. That is the most intense commercial use you can have. It allows auto-related uses, such as a car wash, a service station, or a drive-through. The client is proposing to construct a video store. In doing that, he is down-zoning from C-5 to C-4. The request is, actually, for a LC-4, since there will be a limitation text, which they are providing in response to a council variance request. This limitation text contains written commitments to ensure that there will be landscaping, buffering, downlighting, and that the building will be residential in nature with a pitched roof. They agreed, subject to the Zoning Committee's request, to limit signage on the west side of the building. There will be buffering against the small area of single-family housing that is contiguous to the site. From a land use perspective, it is a down-zoning from C5 to C-4, with the additional written guarantee provided by the limitation text. As seen on the map, the nearby commercial developments do not have limitations.

"Whereas, with our L we have eliminated, well, actually, that has been changed, we changed the specific reference to the Family Video stores will not (inaudible)."

J. Province said, "X-rated."

Shannon said, "Adult videos."

Morris asked about access.

Shannon said that that will go back to Traffic Engineering to determine whether they should re-visit access onto Sullivant Avenue, which, he understands, is to be widened to five lanes.

Norton.

"Norton, I mean." There is some concern that they maybe should have a right-in, right-out curb cut. Traffic Engineering didn't bring that up. They did meet with all the appropriate offices prior to coming to WAC this evening, and they did receive their official written comments. This information was not included in the packet, but it can be made available if we want it.

The client, when he was obligated to buy this property, did not have local legal counsel, and he thought that a C-5 zoning would permit the construction of a less intense use on the property. The have paid the extra filing fee to fast-track this matter through the process to get a council variance. They still have to go through the same process for rezoning, including appearing before the Zoning Committee in October or November, and then back to City Council. Time is of the essence to them, though.

Mueller asked whether the property immediately to the north of the site is still in Prairie Township.

D. Province said it is. The hair salon is in the township. Norton Road may be all in the township. Province isn't sure whether all or part of Norton Road is in the township, right there. Sullivant Avenue is all in the city.

"Correct."

Mueller asked the overall site dimensions.

"I...six acres. I've got a...let's see if I can find the dimensions. This is where we're at, showing (inaudible). But it's a point-six-oh acre tract. I don't have the actual square footage of the building. It's a prototype Family Video. If you've seen one, you've seen them all. It's pretty much like a Blockbuster, but they're not quite as long as, they're more square, a little bit smaller. You see a Blockbuster, you usually see an elongated building in a strip center. Family Video is usually a free-standing building."

Morris asked whether it would be a 24-hour operation.

"Not to my knowledge, sir."

Province moved to approve. Frank seconded. A vote was taken. The ayes clearly outnumbered the nays. The motion was approved.

Saxton announced that the second issue is that of the proposed shopping center on Big Run Road (Z00-065). Nearly everyone here was present at the WAC zoning committee meeting (held just prior to this full WAC meeting), and the adjacent housing development. Both of those issues were tabled because of the proposed sizes of the houses and the lots, and because of questions regarding traffic.

The third thing: An application has been made to the Division of Liquor for a liquor license for the New Rome Pub, which is to be at 5355 West Broad Street, on the first floor and in the basement. The site is within 1000 feet of Westland High School.

The information about this request was handed it to Collette, who handed it to Saxton. Neither of them knows what to do. Thus, he is relying upon Province.

Mueller asked, then, whether the jurisdiction is within New Rome, and falls under their zoning.

Saxton replied that it would be in New Rome. New Rome doesn't have a zoning office. Does anyone know Charles or Kelly Williamson? They are the applicants.

(No one responded).

Saxton said the site is closer to Norton Middle School than to the high school building. It is only 185 feet from the school.

Province said that the site has been a bar before.

Morris thinks it was called "Alice's." Is that where it's at?

We don't know.

Province said the only thing we can do is to make a recommendation to City Council that they write a letter of disapproval. Even though the site is not within the City of Columbus, they can write a letter to the state. They can ask the city attorney to write a letter to the state, asking them to disapprove. We can write directly to the state, too, though it probably wouldn't do much good.

Saxton said we should do both. We should write a letter, and we should ask the City Attorney to write a letter to the Ohio Department of Commerce, asking them to object to this.

Morris said the school system should write a letter, too.

Saxton said they will do it, too. Saxton moved that Province write a letter of opposition, and that he ask the city to write a letter. Morris seconded. Approved.

Hymer said that there is a Lutheran church very near to the site.

Province said that they should be notified.

Province said that, in today's mail, he received a copy of a Demolition Permit Application for the house located at 4580 Alkire Road. This is the corner of Holt and Alkire, where the plan is to tear down the house to construct a Certified gas station. We have no real grounds to oppose the demolition, because the house is not a historic site. All we can do is say "no," but we cannot justify it to their satisfaction.

Saxton said that we turned down this zoning application four times. The fifth time, they got it through, over our objections.

J. Province said that we should remain opposed, as a matter of principle. She so moved. Morris seconded.

J. Province said the motion should be worded the other way around, in order to avoid the confusion created by double negatives. J. Province moved to approve the demolition. Morris seconded. D. Province asked for a voice vote. The vote was taken by voice. The motion to approve demolition was Disapproved, unanimously.

Saxton said that the letter should indicate that we voted disapproval of this project four times. It is no place for a gas station.

Morris suggested that Province invite someone from Certified Oil to attend our next meeting, so that we can discuss this issue with them.

Safety and Health Committee (Weber): Weber announced that, today, he submitted his resume to City Council, applying for appointment to the vacancy. He does have some support at City Hall and in the Republican Party, and he thinks it is about time that the west side of the city should have some representation on City Council.

Morris moved that Province send a letter of endorsement. Saxton seconded. Approved.

Province said he just attended a course to learn to use the computer in order to write better letters and budget reports.

Weber introduced Erika Castro, the Latino Outreach Coordinator for the Westland Family Violence Initiative. With her is Aimee Bowie, who is the program coordinator for the United Way West, Family Violence Initiative.

Castro said she works for the OSU Extension. Ohio State University, as a land-grant institution, maintains an extension service in every county. She has been working with them for four years. Prior to that, she was on loan to the governor's office for the Families and Children First Initiative. She had also been working on a new Latino Advisory Group, an organization that came together to try to meet some of the needs of the new Latino community that has appeared on the West Side. She has been on this committee for about a month.

The Family Violence Initiative is a project that was started by the United Way. The data they received from the Police Department showed that the West Side has the highest number of calls related to family violence. That isn't just domestic violence; it is youth-to-youth violence, child abuse, elderly abuse, etc. They started the initiative to bring people together to talk about what can be done on a community level in order to address this problem.

A separate group broke off from the initial committee, to address the special needs of the new Latino community. Province sits on that committee.

Castro has been meeting with the South-Western City Schools. Fully 20% of the student population now comes from homes where English is not the first language. The committee has discussed the problems, and it is now developing a resource guide.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and she and Bowie will be initiating special activities along with that.

She originally worked in Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity, as a community organizer, building houses, and she met her husband there. He is Guatemalan. In his country, he was a teacher and a person who was respected in his community. When they came here, he spoke no English, so he had to take the worst jobs imaginable. He pulled nails out of wood for four dollars an hour for a university professor who was rehabbing his garage. He had to provide for his wife and new baby, but it was difficult for him. Now, he speaks English beautifully and he is a teacher here. However, she observed how difficult the transition was for him, and the culture shock that he experienced. There were few resources available to help.

She speaks Spanish, and she is has been a long-time volunteer in the community with people who often do not have a voice and who do not feel empowered to help themselves.

She met with Weber to discuss ways that the area churches can help. She hopes to be a bridge for us, as we wonder about our new neighbors.

There is a new Mexican bakery on South Murray Hill Road. The family that owns that shop had been living in San Diego, where they each worked two jobs, just to pay the rent. They heard that, in Ohio, there were jobs available, the cost of living was reasonable, and their children would not be recruited into gangs. They came here with $1000, a car, and three children, worked at Dave and Buster's in Hilliard for six months, and saved enough money to start their own business.

Bowie said that she just started with United Way. Previously, she had been with Compdrug, doing outpatient alcohol and drug abuse counseling. Before that, she had been with Columbus AIDS Task Force for seven years.

United Way restructured itself recently. Now, it has seven Vision Councils. Those groups address critical needs that they have identified throughout Franklin County. They include Safety (which her activities fall under), Health, Education, Neighborhood Development, Race Relations, Employment...

The Vision Council is looking primarily at two critical issues, juvenile crime and truancy, and family violence. Their pilot program has looked at statistics regarding police runs, data from FCCS, Choices. They hired a research firm, they organized focus groups within this community, to help identify what the community sees as its primary issues. When the community was asked to identify its top three priorities, family violence was not brought up. They did mention crime, and when directed further, agreed that family violence was a main issue.

Her main goal is to create more awareness about what family violence is. It isn't just domestic violence, but it includes child abuse and elder abuse. It isn't just physical abuse, but also emotional, sexual, and financial abuse.

The next goal is to create awareness of the existing legal remedies, such as the court system, and the social service remedies, such as FCCS and Choices. Then, it is necessary to change attitudes and behaviors, that it is not something that has to be tolerated, that it is not a private issue.

She will make sure we receive supplies of the publications and door hangers that they have created.

Last year, they placed billboards in strategic places. This year, they created the Westland Area Advisory Group. Key people in the Westland Area, as well as representatives of service providers have been appointed to this group. They plan to collaborate with existing agencies and providers to bring services to the Westland area.

They are planning to hold workshops that will deal with the issues in a positive light.

She is asking WAC for input and support. There are plans for candlelight vigils and town meetings. She will be asking clergy to address these issues at their churches.

Province said that the sheets that are being distributed contain telephone and fax numbers.

Bowie said she has replaced Gail Nowosadko. Eventually, the plan is for the community to own the initiative, and for United Way eventually to back out. Thus, they have established a separate office at Lincoln Park West. Thus, they have a presence in this community, not just downtown. They are readily accessible.

Province announced that Community Care Day is scheduled for September 13.

Hymer said that Columbia Heights United Methodist Church has a Spanish-language service at 1:30 on Sunday afternoons.

Castro said that she will be at Westland High School one day a week, serving as a resource person regarding youth issues. At first, she will acquaint herself with the teachers and students, and then they will discuss what kinds of programs they can do there.

Province said that Mt. Carmel Medical Center was at Lincoln Park West, giving free inoculations to children in the area. This was on the television news.

Province introduced Rusty Reed, of Code Enforcement. Relevant questions should be directed to him.

There was a question recently about local apartments renting their garages to area business for use as storage facilities, or in some cases, for business to operate out of them. This apartment complex charges higher rent to tenants who want a garage in addition to their apartments. Some tenants do not choose to rent garages for their cars. Consequently, some garages stand vacant. The landlord has been renting them to area businesses, which are not tenants of the apartment complex, for storage areas for paints and other items.

Reed asked for specific addresses. Reed's telephone number is 645-7872. This is a violation of code, and especially so if the stored items are flammable.

There has already been a fire there.

Recreation and Parks Committee (Locke): Locke reported that she attended an organizational meeting with the city Recreation and Parks Department. It lasted about two and a half hours, and was mostly for the committee people to get to know one another. There were about two dozen people from city Staff and from the various area commissions. There were also consultants from an Ohio-based firm that has twenty-five years of experience at planning parks, all around the nation. This group will meet for about fifteen months, to come up with a master plan for the city park system. There was a $59 million bond package passed in November, and there still isn't a master plan for that money. Hurd and Locke will be speaking about the need for parks in this area. She will report back to us about any progress. The next meeting will be held September 13 in Schiller Park. The outcome of these meetings is to be a draft proposal to address identified needs citywide, and recommendations. There will be public meetings around the city in September and April.

There was a meeting at Prairie Township Hall to discuss the Hellbranch Run. (The township trustees opened up their hall for the meeting, but the organizers of the meeting had nothing to do with Prairie Township government). The meeting took place on July 13. Her husband attended, as she had another meeting that night. Her husband took notes, and she telephoned the meeting organizer afterward and spoke to him. He delivered to her a 77-page report. She has been trying to digest it, but she is not familiar with many basic concepts and terms involving environmental conservation, and she has been having difficulty plowing through it. She will make the book available to anyone who wants to tackle it.

She distributed four pages of summary information, based upon the results of meetings dating back as far as 1959. The plan is to protect the watershed. Hamilton Ditch and Clover Groft Ditch come together to form the Hellbranch. Hellbranch extends from just north of West Broad Street, all the way down until it connects to Big Darby Creek. That area, on both sides of the creek, is prone to flooding. It is flat land, and the soil consists of clay and does not have good drainage. When there is development adjacent to the creek, especially to the north, the result is increased flooding.

The committee has come together to try to deal with this matter. This isn't easy to do, because four different townships are involved, plus Hilliard, Columbus, and Franklin County. There were a lot of upset homeowners at that meeting, but by the time the meeting was underway, people calmed down as they learned that this was not the beginning of a government buyout program. The homeowners will not be pushed to sell. This is a voluntary conservation project. If the homeowners will plant trees, they will help. That's where we come in. We can help to oppose more building and development in an area that is prone to flooding.

Province said that there is a lawsuit now, involving property on Galloway Road, south of Hall. There is an 111-acre property there, and 95% of it drains into the Hellbranch. The developers are looking at that land. When the city builds a huge sewer system in that area, we know it is for a purpose.

Locke asked whether any other WAC members want to become part of this advisory group. WAC should have representation.

Province said that there was a promise made to us that they would create a revised 100-year floodplain map, based upon current land development.

Locke said that there was a major flood there in 1973, involving 6.4 inches of water in one day.

Province said there was a heavy rain affecting Hardesty Heights, only about a year ago.

Community Relations Committee (Balthaser): Ulrey reported that there will be a meeting of WABA on September 12 at St. John Lutheran Church. The meeting will take place at noon, and lunch will be served. There will be a guest speaker. As this is the first meeting of the year, there will be an election of officers. Ulrey will be stepping down.

The October meeting will be on a Thursday night (possibly the 12th) at Doctor's Hospital West. The guest speaker will be Paul Kiels, the Voice of the Buckeyes. There will be a spaghetti dinner. Admission is $10 for members, or, if the member brings a non-member visitor, the admission is free. There will be a presentation of awards: Business Award, Good Neighbor Award, Beautification Award, etc.

Province announced that CDBG money would be made available to send two WAC members to Louisville for a Neighborhood Partnership Conference, to be held October 5 through 7. It is an opportunity to share techniques for dealing with common issues, with neighborhood leaders from other cities.

Mayor Coleman has invited WAC to meet with him from 7:00am to 9:00am on a weekday morning in mid-November. It would probably be a Wednesday in mid-month.

Balthaser asked why he wants all of us to go downtown. Why can't he come here?

Morris said he wants to bring all the commissions in, to give us all a tour of City Hall and to introduce us to Staff.

Province asked for a show of hands of people who could attend such a meeting.

At least half of the room responded affirmatively.

Province introduced Carolee Uits of the city Department of Trade and Development. One of the things she wanted everyone to be aware of, is to look at the resource center, where it is now, and where it is headed.

Mayor Lashutka, or the City Council during his administration, gave a three-year life of funding to the area resource centers. They were funded at 100% the first year, 75% the second year, and 50% the final year. The amount of money given to the Westland Action Center the first year was $8500, which is just barely enough to keep an office open.

Through Mayor Coleman, additional funds were "found" that were left over from crime prevention money. An additional sum of $9999 will be made available to help fund a translator, in order to implement some of the projects Erika spoke about.

Province said that Coleman wants us to involve new immigrants in community involvement.

Uits said that the Westland area is ahead of other areas of the city in beginning these projects. However, back to back with that, there is the other problem of the resource center, which was never well funded to begin with. As we are going into the second year, we are talking about an allocation of about $5000. As Uits's recommendations were being made, her hands were tied by decisions that had been made by the previous Republican administration. Next year, it will get even worse.

Uits is concerned that, as Westland Community Concerns gets underway, it needs support to implement its plans. It needs board members. It needs commitment to assist him in his outreach plans, and that doesn't have to be in dollar bills. It can be creative.

She has come here on her own to make us aware of the problem, and to help us succeed. She is looking for other sources of funding. Meanwhile, the entire project needs WAC support, so that Dan isn't the only person doing all the work.

Province said it is hard to develop viable programs in the community on $5000, when United Way was given $72,000 to hire two people, and another $60,000 to run the program. It would be nice if we could have that kind of funding flowing into the Westland community in another way.

Uits said that it is good to have other organizations come into a community, but it is best when the program is created locally.

Province said that the Westland area has its commission and its business association. The third part of the system is to have the 501c(3) non-profit organization that can bring grants and tax-free dollars into the community. There are many things we want to do in the neighborhood, and if we have a strong board and we show progress, money will come in to build parks and create community projects. Then, we won't have so many tiny houses shoved at us.

Uits said that she sees Dan operating an office, with lots of ideas, with the need to do all the paperwork and all the details, and writing all the proposals, and everything else. And this is not something Dan told her to say.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40pm.