Westerville Workshop To Focus On Future Of 64 E. Walnut
Westerville residents will return to the debate over 64 E. Walnut St. Tuesday night, this time before the city has a redevelopment proposal for them to accept or reject.
The city will hold a community workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Westerville Community Center as officials reconsider the future of the property in Uptown.
The meeting comes a little more than two months after City Council unanimously rejected a proposed sale and redevelopment agreement for the roughly five-acre site following weeks of public opposition over the project’s scale, traffic, parking and compatibility with the surrounding area.
Council’s June 2 vote did more than kill that proposal. It directed the city not to bring another sale or development plan for 64 E. Walnut back to council until officials provide additional information and gather more public input. Tuesday’s workshop is the first major step in that reset.
Rather than asking residents to respond to a finished development concept, the city says it wants participants to identify the goals, priorities and concerns that should guide whatever comes next, and clarify what is still open for discussion.
That is a significant change from this spring, when residents were reacting to a proposal from Continental Development Ventures that included apartments, a boutique hotel, a restaurant and a large parking garage.
But after the fight over that proposal, some residents are also arriving Tuesday with questions about how much of the property’s future is actually open for discussion.
Uptown United, a resident group formed during the controversy, held a virtual meeting last week to prepare people for the workshop. Members encouraged residents to attend, ask detailed questions, take their own notes, and make sure their comments are accurately represented when the city summarizes the discussion.
Mindy Nelson told participants that Uptown United does not have “any one position” on what should or should not be built at 64 E. Walnut. Instead, members focused largely on concerns they want future proposals to address, including traffic, pedestrian safety, effects on nearby neighborhoods and community facilities, and development they believe would be out of scale with Uptown.
Members also urged residents to be specific during Tuesday’s discussions rather than simply agreeing or disagreeing with others, noting that individual comments eventually will be consolidated into broader themes.
The city plans to begin the workshop with a presentation on the site, existing conditions, city priorities and the planning and zoning process. Participants then will break into facilitated table discussions before sharing their comments with the larger group.
Council has asked staff to identify community priorities for the property and clarify how any redevelopment would proceed, including traffic review, land pricing and the use of sale proceeds and tax revenue.
One question likely to surface Tuesday is how much previous city planning decisions limit the choices residents will be asked to consider.
Westerville has several adopted planning documents that could shape redevelopment, including the Uptown Plan, the Imagine Westerville Community Plan and the city’s economic development strategy. Those documents call for preserving Uptown’s character while also encouraging economic development, housing, restaurants, entertainment and an appropriately scaled boutique hotel in the Uptown area.
They do not, however, require a particular project at 64 E. Walnut.
During Uptown United’s virtual meeting, Nelson said she had been told that eventual sale of the property to a private developer was considered non-negotiable based on previous city planning decisions. Group members questioned that interpretation and argued that City Council can change course, making the workshop’s role in the process a central issue.
The distinction between previously adopted goals and decisions that remain open to council could become central to the next phase of the debate.
Questions about the city’s process also predate the Continental proposal. Earlier reporting found that Champion Companies had discussed redevelopment concepts for the property with the city for roughly two years before the Continental agreement emerged.
Those discussions, and the later rejection of the Continental deal, prompted residents to ask how developers are selected, how competing concepts are evaluated and whether the city could use a formal request-for-proposals process if it again seeks private redevelopment.
Residents who cannot attend Tuesday’s workshop can respond to the same questions through an online survey or printed comment cards. The city will accept comments through Aug. 28.
Space at the workshop also is limited. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the combined Maple Rooms can accommodate 168 participants on a first-come, first-served basis.
The city plans to summarize the public input and present it to City Council during a Sept. 8 work session, when council members are expected to review the comments and staff information before deciding what direction the city should take next at 64 E. Walnut.
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