Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

To ''also concerned'' part 1

I never said that you referred to Pickerington as Dublin. However everyone is hanging their hats on commercial growth saving Pickerington and the school district but I just want to make sure our expectations aren?’t out of line, ie. Dublin.

Both the township and the city are working on a land-use plan to update their current plans. Let?’s see what come out of those regarding commercial development.

?“Next you go on to the tried and true defense of looking everywhere while focusing nowhere. I believe in my earlier posting I mentioned status quo won?’t do, right? You parrot the Gray, Hughes, Postage, Bushman, old City Council ?….. and coincidentally BIA lines of the development will go elsewhere.?”

That is total garbage!

You?’re grand scheme for fixing the system was to get in the national headlines and tell the world how much the BIA and the homebuilders suck. What exactly does that accomplish? Tell me how that helps the school system or Pickerington?

?“Can we agree that the previous City Council?’s, Mayor?’s, Manager opened the floodgates and approved 2,000 or more lots recently? ?“

Yes that is obvious. However approval of final plats is NOT the same as houses being built, not immediately at least

?“Can we agree that the builders went nuts in the last year and snaked through 600 home building permits in the City alone??”

Yes, of which ~50% were used for actual homes.

?“Can we agree that approximately 300 homes of last year?’s glut remain as unoccupied in the City??”

No we can?’t agree on that. There are roughly 300 outstanding building permits out there but they do have a shelf life and may expire in the relatively near future. There are NOT 300 unoccupied homes in the city waiting to be sold tomorrow.

?“So of the various zoning, permitting entities it seems reasonable to conclude that the City of Pickerington presently represents the far greater damaging potential to the PLSD?….. if you disagree show me ?… ?“

I?’ll gladly disagree with you on this. If you think there aren?’t other risks to overcrowding our schools other than the city or if you think the builders won?’t go elsewhere then please read these links.

http://www.orrd.org/homewood.htm
http://www.orrd.org/roshon.htm

My favorite line was ?“Do we want Liberty Township to become another Violet Township?????” Stopping the development in the city doesn?’t fix anything!

How about this link ?– it is pretty much the Township telling you to go take a hike on any moratorium.

http://www.violet.oh.us/PDF%20Files/position%20statement%20vt.pdf

Now I ask you - why don?’t you stop towing the status quo line that this is just a city problem? Give me a break.

I got this far by facing the facts ?– are you willing to face them as well? What is fair and balanced? Tie building permits within the city to the # issued within the township? City to ?½ the township? City 0 and township whatever they want to?

This problem needs to be attacked from ALL entities.

continued....

By M.G.

To ''also concerned'' part 2

Don?’t patronize me with your ?“..assuming, under informed?…?” babble. YOU OFFER NO REAL SOLUTIONS other than making national headlines. Yeah ?– that solves everything!

As far as your comments about 0 growth go: You clearly stated ?“We cannot and should not ever believe that this product performance can continue an upward trend or track by adding 600 or 500 or even 300 new houses per year.?”

I know a moratorium does not mean 0 homes. However you stated 300 homes per year is unacceptable to PLSD. I backed into 0 homes in the city like this. Township has and will continue to build ~200+/- homes per year, you can still count on Columbus adding another 50 or so on the lots they still have available. Given the other entities within the school district that issue housing permits it will far exceed your acceptable numbers for new home builds which leaves ZERO for the city.

Your facts leave much to be desired:
300 homes left to occupy is completely wrong. There are ~300 outstanding housing permits, which I clearly stated can and will expire. Will some be exercised ?– Yes they will. However the builders are NOT going to build 300 or even 150 spec homes in anticipation of selling them in the near future. It may end up that all those blanket permits will be used. If that is the case then why were there over 100 more waiting to be pulled from the hat at the last quarterly drawing? I have a hard time believing there are 400 families lined up to build homes in the city alone.

You show me the figures of what it will cost to tie the city and county sewer systems together, how that will be managed, who will manage and maintain X lines, how much it will cost to determine flow rates from who?’s lines, how long the capacity will last, who is responsible for the debt of the expansion and if the county is even willing to consider this then we?’ll talk about what a sound idea this is. I?’m not saying this is not something that should be looked into however I personally think this will be a very costly endeavor with little long-term benefit.

I?’ve read about, but don?’t know all the facts of, Lake Tahoe and I truly hope the city wins this one. However, there is a reason the builders chose Franklin County to file this case and this is NOT going to be an easy win for the city. It will most likely end up in the Appellate courts or higher by the time it?’s all over with. And it is possible that the city could lose and end up paying serious $ out of their coffers because of it. I can?’t say I have a lot of faith in our court system to say that this is a no-brainer because of what the A.G. or Supreme Court said in 1 case.

continued...

By M.G.

To ''also concerned'' part 3 of 3

The moratorium is merely a short-term solution to a long-term problem. It isn?’t going to solve anything unless there is a solid long-term plan to address PLSD, infrastructure and other concerns.

I don?’t see attacking the BIA and builders and crying ?‘moratorium?’ as a solution to anything. Am I pissed that the builders haven?’t done more ?– ABSOLUTLEY. However, they are a business and have looked out for #1 ?– just like nearly every other business out there. It?’s time to hold their feet to the fire, which has NOT been done by anyone - city, township, or PLSD! I love the idea of pissing off the BIA and making them look like a bunch of greedy bastards. However, berating them in national headlines is counter-productive to the goals of a strong PLSD and will not accomplish anything.

The city does have a case for keeping the moratorium in place for probably the next 2 years while the sewer plant is constructed. However if the city ties into the county lines this spring or summer then where is their argument to continue the moratorium?

Managed growth is not something that can be easily quantifiable but I know it isn?’t 0 growth nor is it what we?’ve been experiencing over the past several years. The schools may think that 200 new students per year is acceptable while the city may think that 300 homes per year is manageable and the township may feel that 225 per year is the answer. I don?’t know what the answer is, it may mean different things to different people, but I know that half-cocked ideas and pointing the finger at any single entity is NOT the answer.

Without ALL entities sitting down and coming to a consensus then you are right ?– NOTHING will get accomplished. This is going to take time and not something that will occur overnight.

I know we CANNOT continue on as we have with residential construction in Pickerington ?– not the city, not the township, but in Pickerington as a whole. Our roads can?’t handle it nor can our schools. If we continue to point fingers instead of meaningful dialogue then we?’ve already lost.

Land use plans, MORPC, JED?’s, CEDA?’s, growth plans, impact fees, etc are all vehicles to building a stronger community and school district. But it will take time ?– maybe longer than you are willing to wait. But our new city and PLSD governments have been in place for all of 8 weeks and they are going to need time to work on these issues.



By M.G.