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Copyright 2008

Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce
45 E. Main St.
Chillicothe, OH 45601
740-702-2722

Process to overhaul city’s

ancient planning code under way

By Marvin Jones

President and CEO

The movement to modernize Chillicothe’s planning and zoning code, initiated by the chamber’s Advocacy Committee, is heading into high gear. The task force working on the overhaul got a lesson this week in the basics of the code along with a history lesson of how the city’s code, adopted originally in 1974, is outdated after 35 years.

Planning expert James Hartzler held one-on-one discussions earlier with developers, real estate agents, business owners, property owners and government leaders to get an idea of the issues facing the city. From those talks, he assembled the task force which began its work earlier this month. The process ends probably in the fall or winter with City Council considering adoption of a new code.

Hartzler presented the task force with what he considers the key development issues the new code needs to address, based on his previous discussions and observations. The issues:

• Manage physical aspects of commercial and business expansion.
• Provide areas and opportunities for new business development.
• Continue to provide for in-town “upscale” housing environments.
• Maintain housing values in existing older neighborhoods.
• Control and intrusion of incompatible uses into existing neighborhoods.
• Promote business and physical revitalization of the downtown.
• Continue to emphasize preservation of key historic resources.
• Protect existing industrial areas.

Hartzler, who has more than 30 years experience and has helped communities such as Circleville, Bucyrus and Galion, provided a glimpse into possible changes the task force might consider as it gets further into the process. These include:

• A separate code for the downtown district. This could eliminate present parking space requirements, setbacks and other limitations that hinder business development. Hartzler said almost every downtown that thrives has a separate code to follow.
• For the few undeveloped areas in the city, using a “planned unit development” designation, rather than the present residential, commercial or industrial designations, a multi-acre plot with this designation would allow a developer to include any mix of the above, but the entire development plan would need approval of the Planning Commission.
• Cluster zoning could allow developers to take 20 acres, put so many houses on 15 of the acres, then use the remaining five acres for green space. The present R-4 and other residential designations aren’t conducive to this type of development.

Members of the task force: Mayor Joe Sulzer; council members Cindy Henderson, Nancy Ames, and Dustin Proehl; City Engineer Tom Day; Building Inspector Kelly Kight; Chief of Staff Matt Allen; Planning Commission Chair Alan Hamburger; Advocacy Committee member Tom McKell; real estate agent and developer John Lloyd; Beverly Gray; and yours truly.

We bid farewell to Cari

Today is the last day at the chamber for Workforce Development Director Cari Steinbrook. In her three years here, she built bridges between employers and job seekers, most especially with our popular Job Bank website that gets about 127,000 hits a month. The classes she taught every Thursday morning at the Jobs One-Stop provided invaluable skills to those hoping to find employment in a tough environment. She also was instrumental in getting our Young Professionals Network off the ground and building it into another chamber resource. She is off to help her husband, Nate, in his retail ventures. We wish her only the best as we regroup to continue and build upon the program.

Plan now to car pool to the chamber’s golf outing

For the first time in at least seven years, the chamber had to close registrations for its annual golf outing. The field of 34 teams (136 golfers) is the largest in recent memory. Valley Vista Golf Course owner John Brown highly encourages teams to car pool to the Friday, June 12 event as parking at the course is limited. Registration opens at 8 and play begins at 9 on the course just outside Bainbridge on Tong Hollow Road. While player registration is closed, there is plenty of opportunity take advantage of the marketing opportunities the outing provides. Call Rosie at 702-2722 to learn about these.

Next year’s ViewBook/Directory to be feature oriented

Opportunities also are available for your advertising message in the 2010 Community ViewBook of the chamber. CommunityLink’s Heidi Robson is available to talk about ad sizes, placement and rates for the book which will feature many of the positive aspects of our community at 703-7746. Many members use the book for their reception areas and others use it to help lure potential out-of-town employee prospects. If you’d like copies of this year’s book, drop by the chamber office or call Elizabeth at 702-2722. The chamber receives a percentage of the advertising revenue to help keep membership dues affordable. Click here to check out this year's ViewBook that also is available online.

Unemployment rates a mixed bag for April

Ross County’s rate of unemployment dropped slightly in April to 11.9 percent from March’s 12.1 percent rate while surrounding counties both rose and fell. The 11.9 percent rate  means 4,100 people are out of work in the county from a labor pool of 34,300. Here are the other rates:

Newest chamber members:

• Fastenal, 260 E. Main St., by John Futhey, 772-4250, www.fastenal.com.
• Sprint Imobile, 3 N. Bridge St., by Josh Voorhes, 779-6855.

Commercial building permits issued recently by the Ross County and Chillicothe Building Departments:

• Ralph and Jennifer Strickland, 22 E. Water St., fence, no value given.
• Amy Hatfield, 63 E. Water St., electrical and HVAC, $22,000.
• Huntington National Bank, 1 N. Paint St., HVAC, $12,000.
• City of Chillicothe Water Department, 501 Back Road, fire alarm upgrade, $20,000.
• South End Realty Corporation, 285 E. Seventh St., roofing, $23,000.
• Thomas Spetnagel, 24 W. Main St., roofing, $6,000.
• RLJ Properties, 950 E. Main St., roofing, $3,000.
• Buena Vista Properties, 84 E. Second St., roofing, $7,200.
• John Molnar, 98 N. Paint St., sign, $174.
• Arby’s Roast Beef, 1082 N. Bridge St., hood suppression, $2,100.
• Seth Brown, 53 E. Second St., roofing, $10,850.
• Certified Oil Company, 825 N. Bridge St., signs, $22,000.
• Sunrush Enterprises, 2530 Western Ave., alterations, $20,000.

Vendors licenses issued recently by the Ross County Auditor:

• JC Enterprises, 74 W. Water St., by Jon Clark.
• Bruce Hopkins, 1284 Cooks Hill Road.