Far Northwest Coalition

June 9, 2005 NW Plan Revision Minutes

NORTHWEST PLAN UPDATING - JUNE 9, 2005

Meeting Summary

Northwest Plan
Advisory Committee
June 9, 2005
Northwest Library


Attendees


David Brehm, Brookside Woods
Paul Feldman, City of Worthington
Chris Holmes, Brookside Civic Assoc.
Doug Holmes, Worthington City Council
John Macomber, Brookside Woods
Victoria Peters, Federal Highway Administration
Herman Rodrigo, Federal Highway Administration
Laura Shinn, OSU
Steve Soble, Columbus Neighborhood Services
Vera and Bob Tedrick, Shaker Square Civic
Suzanne Vais, Columbus Planning Division
William Watterson, City of Worthington
Jane Weislogel, Shaker Square Civic Assoc.
Scott Whitlock, Rau Lane Civic Association








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Suzanne Vais, Senior Planner with the Columbus Planning Division, opened the meeting at approximately 7:05 p.m. Ms. Vais indicated that the main topic of the meeting was to continue developing guiding principles for SR 161.

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First, there was a brief update on the status of improvements to SR 161. Ms. Vais indicated that staff from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) could not make the May meeting but that two staff persons from the FHWA were sitting in on this meeting. Ms. Vais stated that she has recently spoken to staff at the FHWA regarding SR 161. From that conversation it was learned that the FHWA is not prepared to make a judgment in terms of what improvements to fund. They would like to review a study of different scenarios prior to making a decision. This study would be initiated locally.

Mr. Herman Rodrigo from the FHWA then answered questions from the group. The following was the resulting conversation:

• Mr. Rodrigo was asked whether or not the FHWA would consider an improvement scenario involving improvement circulation at major intersections but not doing a full widening of the road. Mr. Rodrigo stated that this type of scenario should be tested but should not be the only scenario tested.
• Mr. Rodrigo indicated that local community support for an improvement project is critical.
• FHWA does fund bikeways that have been identified as serving a local or regional need. There would be a local match requirement. It was suggested to involve MORPC and the Columbus Transportation staff on the issue of a bikeway along SR 161.


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Next, Ms. Vais conducted a visual preference survey for SR 161. The group was asked to rate images related to streetscape, land use, mass transit and open space. The purpose of the exercise was to capture the opinions of each individual as it relates to the future of SR 161. The results of the survey will be discussed with the group at the July meeting.

The group had the following comments following the survey:

• The land owned by OSU should develop with a mix of uses.
• SR 161 needs to be broken down into subareas. Each subarea would have recommended land uses and development standards.
• It would be helpful to know the range of densities of the developments on the north side of SR 161. This can help the group decide what to recommend for the south side of the road.
o Note: The Planning Division has conducted this research for the area north of SR 161 between Federated Blvd. and Linworth Rd. The following are the range of residential densities per acre, the amount of private open space, and the amount of square footage allocated to religious institutions and commercial uses.
 Multi-family development is primarily located just east of Federated Blvd. The density ranges from 6.5-7 units per acre.
 Single-family development is located to the east of the multi-family. The densities of these developments range from 0.5-6 units per acre.
 There is approximately 250 acres of private open space.
 There is approximately 20,000 square feet devoted to religious uses fronting on SR 161.
 There is approximately 46,000 square feet of commercial use adjacent to SR 161. Most of the commercial uses are near Linworth Road.

Additionally, it should be noted that this is for comparison purposes only. There are other types of uses that are possible on the south side of the road that are not on the north side of the road.

*****

The meeting concluded at approximately 9:00 pm. The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be Wednesday, July 13 at 7 pm at the Northwest Library.