Westerville City Council rejects 64 East Walnut proposal after resident backlash
Westerville City Council unanimously rejected a proposed development ordinance for 64 East Walnut Street on Tuesday night, ending the current proposal after weeks of public opposition over its size, traffic impact and fit with the historic Uptown neighborhood.
Council Chair Megan Czako opened the discussion by acknowledging the large turnout and the volume of public feedback the city had received since the proposal first came before council.
“The amount of people here tonight and the interest in this project online, it honestly tells me that the process is working like it should,” Czako said. “What should happen is that something comes before council and the public comes and they tell us how they feel about it and we respond.”
Czako said council members had heard from residents through public comment and emails, and that the message was clear.
“I do hear that the residents are not comfortable with this project right now, nor do our residents feel that the process has been communicated clearly or effectively,” she said. “At our previous meeting, we did table this ordinance to give us more time to listen. Since that time, I feel like I’ve listened, and my thoughts today are that at this time it would feel most appropriate to reject ordinance 2026-11 entirely.”
Council first voted to move the second reading of Ordinance 2026-11 up from Sept. 15 to Tuesday night. That motion passed unanimously. Czako then moved to reject the ordinance, and the council again voted unanimously in favor.
“The motion is approved unanimously, and ordinance number 2026-11 has been rejected,” Czako said. “So what this means is that this is no longer an item of legislation on our agenda. This will not come before us Sept. 15.”
The ordinance had drawn strong opposition from residents concerned about the scale of development at the city-owned site. Several said they welcomed the vote but remained concerned about what could happen next.
Czako said that, as chair, she would not place any RFP, contract or legislation related to the 64 East Walnut property on the agenda until several public steps are completed.
Those include canceling the June 8 open house and holding a new open house on Aug. 11, 2026, to gather resident feedback on what they would like to see at the Walnut property; sharing a written list of goals and priorities for the site at a public meeting, with sources attributed; explaining how a property moves through City Council, zoning, traffic study and Planning Commission processes; outlining each opportunity for public engagement and feedback; explaining where proceeds from a sale and related tax revenue may end up and how those funds could affect the city; and explaining what factors influence how the city arrives at a purchase price for city-owned property.
She also said the city should explain how it determines a purchase price for city-owned property, including appraisals and other relevant factors.
“My commitment as chair is that at the next regular meeting, we’re going to come back to you with dates that we’re going to present all of these items in public meetings,” Czako said. “Until all of those things have been presented to the public, we are not going to have anything else on the agenda for the property at 64 East Walnut.”
City Manager Monica Dupee said the city would pivot after hearing residents’ concerns.
“What has been shown over the last couple of weeks is the emphasis on our collective love for our community,” Dupee said. “Our love for Westerville is a shared love between the audience, between council, between staff.”
Dupee said the city had heard repeated concerns about “density,” “safety, traffic, parking,” and the need for a better explanation of “how decisions are made and the process it takes to get to where we are today.”
“We’re going to pivot,” Dupee said. “We’ll throw all the work we’ve done for the June 18 open house out the window. We’ll go back to the table with the seven items you laid out tonight.”
Dupee said staff would prepare for the Aug. 11 open house and develop goals and priorities using resident feedback, council goals, the community plan, the Uptown plan and the city’s economic development strategy.
“We will cite where we found all that information so that everyone can see where we pulled that from,” Dupee said. She also said the city would provide a “very detailed process timeline” outlining the steps required to reach closing on city-owned property and the points at which public input can occur.
Several residents said they appreciated the rejection but urged the council not to treat the vote as the end of the issue.
Resident Mack Taylor said it was difficult for neighbors not to take the proposal personally when they believed the city’s recommendation would harm their quality of life.
“It’s difficult not to take it personally when city staff’s proposal, the recommendation, what the city should do, is to make our lives worse,” Taylor said. “Again, I appreciate the consideration. I very much appreciate the rejection of the ordinance. I don’t think that’s the end of it.”
Taylor argued that the proposal did not match prior city planning documents, including the 2014 Uptown plan, the city’s economic development strategy and the 2016 community plan. He said the 64 East Walnut site should be evaluated in the context of nearby homes and the existing neighborhood.
“The bottom line is this, that the proposal that was made by staff was rejected,” Taylor said. “It is not supported by the city’s plans.” He added that he believed the site was selected not because it was the best fit, but because it was city-owned. “Other options are hard,” Taylor said. “But just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.”
Kyle Siegrist, who said his parents built their home near Uptown in 1965, said he was glad the council rejected the ordinance but remained opposed to high-density development on the site.
“As someone who loves Uptown Westerville and has been here for 60 years, I love the fact that Uptown Westerville hasn’t changed much,” Siegrist said. “I can’t see any kind of high-density area working there. No hotel, no kind of apartments. It’s just ridiculous.”
Siegrist said he lives close enough to the site to understand existing traffic pressures in the neighborhood.
“I had a yard sale last weekend, and that caused a traffic jam,” he said. “So I can’t imagine what happens” with a much larger project. He urged city officials to be more transparent going forward, saying he knew little about the proposal until shortly before the open house.
Matt Duncan, who lives on East Walnut Street, thanked the council for rejecting the proposal and said residents would stay engaged.
“First of all, I want to thank you for rejecting the proposal. We really appreciate that,” Duncan said. “I also want to thank your citizens. They poured countless hours over the last month into this.”
Duncan said residents heard council’s earlier criticism about the lack of engagement and would respond.
“I can promise, moving forward, I think there’s going to be a lot more engagement,” he said. “I think the citizens are looking forward to transparency and productive engagement from the city. I think they’re also really, really hungry to challenge bad decisions and embrace good ones as well.”
Resident Lori Keyser, a traffic engineer with 33 years of experience, said future proposals for the site should follow the principle of context-sensitive design. She said the project should be evaluated not only by what the city wants to achieve, but also by where it is being proposed.
“In the case of 64 East Walnut Street, the relevant context includes both the surrounding land use of historic single-family homes, three school buildings and the historic Uptown central business district,” Keyser said. She also pointed to “narrow neighborhood streets” and nearby roads already carrying heavy traffic.
Keyser said the proposal discussed by residents did not fit that context.
“I cannot fathom how anyone familiar with Uptown Westerville would consider a five-story building appropriate for this space,” she said. She urged the city to use public-engagement consultants and focus on “finding a solution that is sensitive to the context of the neighborhood and infrastructure surrounding 64 East Walnut Street.”
Another resident, Charles Taylor, raised concerns about possible air quality impacts from demolition, construction, and operation of a large development on the site.
“This project is too large for this location,” Taylor said. “The air quality impacts are going to be too great.” He said any future development should be reduced substantially. “It’s too big a project. The council should direct staff to look at proposals that are the right scale for this development.”
Although council’s vote ended Ordinance 2026-11, it did not settle the long-term future of the 64 East Walnut property. City officials said they plan to return at the next regular meeting with dates for public presentations and engagement steps to be taken before any new legislation related to the site is considered.
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