Far Northwest Coalition

JULY 2009 FNWC MINUTES

Far Northwest Coalition ( FNWC )

FAR NORTHWEST COALITION
P. O. BOX 340285
COLUMBUS,OH 43234-0285

July 29, 2009

The Far Northwest Coalition (FNWC) met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the Northwest Library on Hard Road. Members present of the FNWC Board were John Best, John Murley, Mike Brown, Joe Macomber and Rich Herner.

Best noted that there has been very little zoning activity this year. He also said there were no code enforcement or parks issues that he was aware of, including anything new on the Discovery Playground. The Hard Road & St. Rt. 315 project was briefly discussed, as was the work being done on north outerbelt I-270 reconstruction work.

Murley reported that the new Orange Road bridge should open sometime in August. He also noted that officials are looking at adding a turn lane at the Powell Road/St. Rt. 315 intersection and that the Sawmill parkway extension was still in process.

Best noted that the Northwest Commercial Overlay was approved by the City Council and round 2 is yet to be announced. The goal is to get one standard for all of the commercial areas in the northwest quadrant of the City, not just certain pockets.

John Roush & Dave Perry made a presentation to the FNWC concerning the rezoning of property located at 7630 Sawmill Road; the SE corner of Sawmill & Summer Drive. The plan is for Roush’s firm (Moo Moo Express Car Wash) to build & operate an automated car wash on the property. The request is to rezone the property from a C-2 to a CPD. Roush said they would tear down the existing building (basically only a shell now) & build the car wash. The rezoning was filed on July 28, with the text being essentially the same as submitted to the FNWC. The request would go to the Development Commission in October, with an anticipated opening date in May 2010.

Roush said he has 2 other car washes up & currently operating; one on E. Broad Street and the other on Hill Road in Pickerington. The 1st opened in February & the other in May. Roush said the facility will use state of the art equipment and chemistry, as well as recycling the water used in the car wash. There would be 2 employees on staff with anticipated hours of 8-8 M-S and 10-6 on Sunday. The goal is to have a nice, family-friendly automatic car wash, including free vacuums and employees wearing ties. The FNWC questioned the size of the subject property and whether it would be large enough to handle the projected activity, though the applicant feels there is adequate room on the site. The overall height of the building was also questioned and the group was told that it would not exceed the standard 35 feet restriction in the area. Lighting will also be of a down cast, shutoff variety and vacuums will be promptly shut down at closing.

Rob Meyer, Mike Kenney & Nick King then made a presentation to the FNWC on a request to rezone the property located at 7331 Skyline Dr. East. The property is approximately 7 acres and the request is to modify the zoning from an L-AR12 to an L-C-4, Limited Commercial District. The land had been changed to the AR12 last year but the owner, Kenney, wishes to take it back to the L-C-4 designation to allow the construction of a possible office or hotel in the future. Meyer noted that concessions had been made to the adjacent neighbors for setback requirements in the previous zoning request and they are not looking to change any of these setbacks. The FNWC noted its concerns about traffic in the area and Meyer noted that a traffic study had been completed on the Skyline Drive/Snouffer Road intersection and that there would be no meaningful impact on the area. The group advised him, that our concern was for the Snouffer Road/Sawmill Road intersection and what impact the modified usage would have on traffic congestion there. In addition, currently under construction on the adjacent parcel is a residential hotel. Meyer noted that this rezoning request would be going to the Development Commission at the August meeting.

After discussion, the FNWC moved and seconded, that the request to rezone the property located at 7331 Skyline Dr. East from L-AR12 to L-C-4 be approved as presented, subject to the condition that an improvement plan for the intersection of Skyline Drive and Snouffer Road be included in the plan. Motion passed.

The FNWC then had considerable discussion about the rezoning request for 7630 Sawmill Road. There is still a concern of the group about the size of the subject property, as well as the size and color of the building as it was presented. After the discussion, the FNWC moved and seconded that the rezoning request for 7630 Sawmill Road from a C-2 to a CPD be tabled for further information and review. Motion passed.

There being no further business to come before the FNWC, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Rich Herner
FNWC Secretary