Far Northwest Coalition

JANUARY 2002 FNWC MINUTES

JANUARY 2002 FNWC MINUTES

FAR NORTHWEST COALITION
P. O. BOX 340285 COLUMBUS, OH 43234

January 30, 2002

The Far Northwest Coalition (FNWC) met for its regularly scheduled
meeting at the Northwest Library. Members present of the FNWC Board were
John Best, Ann Brodeur, John Murley, Mark Seeger, Mark Gresham, Jim
Kacpura & Rich Herner.

John Best opened the meeting at 7:10 p.m. The Minutes from the November
28, 2002 meeting were approved as presented. Ann Brodeur gave the
Treasurer’s report.

Rick Tilton & Bruce Black (btblack@cmhmetro.net) of the Mayor’s Office in the Department of Development & Neighborhood Services made a presentation to the group on the Neighborhood Pride program. The program is ongoing but begins with a five day workweek in an area where the City brings in people from various departments in the City and concentrates a weeklong effort on cleaning up a neighborhood. This can include things like litter cleanup of parks and the general area, grass trimming & tree trimming in the right of way areas, as well as other things like code enforcement. There is follow up after that to look at priorities in the neighborhood & to help the local neighborhood police itself thereafter.
The City hopes to be able to partner with the various school districts in
the city to help with the program. It was pointed out that for this program to be a success, the residents must also be involved to help keep the neighborhood up.

There have been 18 neighborhoods included in the program so far in 2000
and 2001. The City plans to add 6-8 more neighborhoods this year. They
consider a neighborhood to be anywhere from 600-1400 parcels because they
feel they can only handle that many in a week’s time. Each neighborhood has a liaison assigned to it that can handle residents’ requests & questions or direct the residents to who to contact to handle a particular matter. The community liaison for the Far Northwest Area is Gene Bailey (645-7654 & wgbailey@cmhmetro.net
). Bailey presented the Neighborhood
Liaison Program to the group. He said there are currently 12 service areas in the city with advocates for resident groups. He said there are over 300 civic groups in the city as well as 12 city commissions. These liaisons are to work with these groups and residents for information sharing & as being a resource to city government. Bailey is assisted in the FNWC area by Mark Dravillas (645-7209 & mddravillas@cmhmetro.net
).

Attorney Jack Reynolds, as representative for the owner Barbara Haddon, presented a zoning request change for 943 Mulberry Drive, Hickory Bluff Farms, a 214 acre residential development. This property is located
immediately north of Worthington Hills and was annexed from Perry Township & Sharon Township into the City of Columbus in December 2001.
The property in question, the request being made, is for the property annexed from Perry Township. The property annexed from Sharon Township was zoned Rural in the township & will be considered separately at a later date.

The property in question was zoned R-4 in Perry Township & the request is to rezone it to RR (rural residential) in the City of Columbus. If land from an unincorporated area is annexed into Columbus, the owner may ask for comparable zoning in the city for no fee if filed within 30 days.
This is what is happening here. According to Reynolds, the R-4 zoning
classification in Perry Township requires at least an 80-foot lot width,
with a minimum of 10,000 square feet for lot areas, unless central water & sewer are available, at which point, the lot size may be reduced to 8,500 square feet per dwelling unit. The comparable zoning in the Columbus code is for the RR, which requires the minimum 80-foot lot width and 10,000 square feet in lot area for single family home use.

There are currently 4 different homes on the property now, including some
natural ravines and a lake. All of these issues would have to be addressed before any development could happen. Reynolds said there could be possibly 325-350 homes on the site but reiterated that there was no timetable for any development at this time. He said they are only asking for basically the same zoning classification that was already on the property when it was part of the township. If not requested within the time frames after annexation, the land would revert to an R (rural)zoning designation with 5 acre lot minimums. The request is slated to be heard by the Development Commission on March 14, 2002.

The FNWC moved and seconded that the FNWC would support the zoning change
request for 943 Mulberry Road, Hickory Bluff Farms, as presented, to change from the R-4 township zoning classification to a comparable a RR
(rural residential) zoning classification. In addition, should future development occur, the FNWC requests that the Parkland Dedication
Ordinance be considered, as well as a traffic impact study of the area.
Motion passed.

FNWC considered officers for the coming year with John Best as President,
John Murley as Vice President and Rich Herner as Secretary & Treasurer.
In addition, the group recognized Ann Bordeur, who will be leaving the FNWC, for her faithful service to the group over her many years of membership in representing the Sawmill Forest neighborhood.

With no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Rich Herner
Secretary