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 By Marvin Jones
President and CEO
The modernization of Chillicothe’s zoning code is, hopefully, only weeks away. The process leading to the change took more than two years and involved almost two dozen people. This week, the city’s Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend adoption by City Council.
It’s not as if council doesn’t have enough on its plate already (more about that later), but the process leading up to this point involved three members of council – Nancy Ames, Pat Patrick and Dustin Proehl – as well as the mayor, city engineer, city building inspector, a real estate broker and a Planning Commission member. Law Director Toni Eddy reviewed the entire code with the consultant to ensure it meets legal muster. The impetus for the modernization came from the chamber’s Advocacy Committee just about two years ago this month when it reviewed recent activities and pushed for an overhaul of the 35-year-old code.
Council is expected to have the new code on its agenda either for the next meeting on Nov. 22 or on Dec. 13. It’s a good bet passage won’t happen until it’s time for a third and final reading and following a public hearing to ensure input from anyone in the community. That means passage, we hope, by early next year.
The major changes in the proposed new code include:
Consolidating some designations. The current code calls for eight residential zones and the new one for seven. The current code has four commercial districts, the proposed one three.
New designations to reflect reality and provide orderly future growth. Downtown currently is zoned C-4 while the proposed code has a specific downtown district, taking into account what’s here now and what would be acceptable in the future. A new industrial reuse district covers areas such as McArthur Street and the long-closed shoe factory surrounded by residential and Washington Avenue.
Adult-oriented businesses. The only zone that will allow strip clubs and the like is industrial in nature, making it virtually unappealing to an entrepreneur.
Not business-specific. The current code lists exactly the types of businesses allowed in commercial and industrial zones. The proposed code lists some specific business types for each zone, but allows the Planning Commission to approve conditional uses taking into account things such as traffic flows, lighting, emissions and other environmental concerns.
Again, there will be ample opportunity for input and comment and the proposed new zoning map will be on display for everyone to review as well. The map reflects what’s in a neighborhood now and takes care of some of the issues that have come up over the 35 years of the current code. It will not affect any current business. Best of all, it provides a framework for the city to grow in a more orderly fashion.
Chamber members react to city finance ideas
Needless to say, the reaction in the community to the chamber’s ideas on addressing the city’s financial crisis was quick and to the points. We very much appreciate the 20 or so members who took the time to email us with their positive comments and a few others who called to express their support.
Many are asking how they can help. What we are telling them is to get in touch with members of City Council and the administration to let them know you support the ideas – any one idea or all -- and that you will support them when it comes time in a few weeks when they make some of the toughest political decisions in their lives. They will and are hearing from the city employees and unions, some of whom undoubtedly and unfortunately will be losing their jobs. Knowing there is support for these tough decisions for the good of the whole city is something the council members and administration need to hear.
We also recognize that several of the ideas the chamber offered will take time to research and will take time before the savings is realized. Some will take maybe a year. But some can be implemented come Jan. 1 when the new appropriations ordinance needs approved. We sincerely hope those ideas will be considered part of the solutions and that those ideas that will take more time to implement will not be lost in the heat of the discussions.
It was unfortunate, but not unexpected, that the Columbus TV coverage Thursday evening chose to accentuate the most controversial of the ideas (merging the police with the sheriff’s office), providing unnecessary drama and angst in the community and taking the spotlight off the one item that can be accomplished before Jan. 1 and provide up to $400,000 in cuts: scaling back benefits for non-union employees and providing flexibility and accountability to all elected city officials.
By now, many of you have probably received a message today from the local Fraternal Order of Police chapter asking you to contact us. Again, we very much do want to hear what you have to say.
Again, to refresh your memory on the chamber’s ideas, click here.
Hollywood Video coming down, new structure planned
There’s no word on the new tenants, but a new multi-use building of 12,720 square feet is planned on the site of the closed and to be demolished Hollywood Video store on North Bridge Street at Winona Boulevard, across from Burger King. The Townsend Company out of Cincinnati is listed as the developer. It is an affiliate of Anchor Associates, the same as Anchor Properties that brought both Walgreens to town in the last few years. The property sold for $1 million, or $280,000 less than what the previous owner paid for it back in 1997. The developer is going before the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals soon to make room for more parking spaces by reducing the width of each space.
Only a few spaces left for Wednesday’s Expo/BAB
We have space for about seven more exhibitors at Wednesday’s combined Business-2-Business Expo and Business After Business at the Elks, so you might want to register now: click here. An 8-foot table is $100, but if you want to share with one other chamber member, let us know that, too. Admission will be $1 that day and beverages will be for sale, but the Subway sandwiches will be free as you roam around visiting each vendor and waiting for your ticket number to be called for one of the fabulous and many door prizes. It runs 4-7 p.m.
SBDC, SCORE and chamber team up for workshops
How to integrate Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn into your company’s marketing plan as well as taking advantage of the many features of Skype are two separate four-hour workshops planned for Thursday, Dec. 9 in the chamber conference room. The OSU South Centers Small Business Development Center will have laptops available for participants to get the hands-on training. You can plan to attend just one or both of the workshops, each of which is $20. The social media workshop runs 8:30-noon and the one on Skype from 1-4:30 p.m. Go to the chamber’s website to register for one or both. Click here.
Some more news to note:
It’s Gallery Stroll downtown Saturday. Runs 6-10 p.m. Featured this month are live jazz music at the Park View Gallery on Water Street and bluegrass music at Bernie and Max Stained Glass on Paint Street.
Jane Highland and Tammy Eallonardo are part of The Reserves Network’s Superstars Class of 2010 and will be off to Las Vegas later this month to celebrate with the company’s other Superstars. The program recognizes top performers in sales, service and relationships.
A PNC Economic Outlook survey had many of the same findings as the one conducted by the chamber a couple weeks back. PNC’s survey shows “Ohio owners are more cautiously optimistic (than a year ago) but still waiting for more customers and higher sales.” It said the results support the bank’s forecast for a “half-speed” recovery into next year.
The National Labor Relations Board recently ruled a Connecticut woman’s Facebook post disparaging her boss is protected speech and cannot be a basis for her dismissal. “It’s the same as talking at the water cooler,” the Associated Press quoted the attorney for the NLRB. “The point is that employees have protection under the law to talk to each other about conditions at work.” Stay tuned for more on this.
Newest members of the chamber:
US Safety Gear, 60 N. Bridge St. (former Movie Gallery), by Karen Finley, 779-6060, www.ussafetygear.com, ribbon cutting set for 1 p.m. Saturday.
JCON Enterprises, 26 Limestone Boulevard, by Casey Bolen, 649-3695, building and property services, maintenance and cleaning, www.jconcleaning.com
MJW Business Consulting, 5934 Ohio 159, by Michael Wagner, 994-0041, business consulting, www.mjwbusinessconsulting.com
The Brick Salon & Spa, 436 Western Ave., by Theresa and Lionel Beatty, 774-4900,
Building permits issued recently by the Chillicothe and Ross County Building Departments:
Chillicothe Baptist Church, 14100 Ohio 104 north, alterations, value $25,000.
Chillicothe Mall, 1075 N. Bridge St., sign for TJMaxx, $6,300.
Adams Joseph, 60 N. Bridge St., signs, $2,500.
We Be Wings (Roosters), 10 N. Plaza Blvd., signs, $6,000.
Chillicothe Mall, 1059 N. Bridge St., signs, $1,000.
National Church Residences (Hopeton Village), 153 University Drive, alterations, $1.7 million.
Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library, 140 S. Paint St., curb cut, $3,000.
New Life Christian Church, 1033 Dayton St., HVAC, $8,800.
J. Britton, 47 N. Plaza Blvd., roof replacement, $17,000.
Ross County Board of Development, 11268 County Road 550, change systems, $3,500.
Reynoldsburg Mobile, 11 Iroquois Lane, new pole building, no value given.
Colerain Township, 21 Whisler Road, relocate firehouse generator, no value given.
Jerry’s West, 23 Star Drive, new certificate of occupancy, no value given.
If you didn’t receive this newsletter directly from the chamber and would like to be added to our distribution list, please email mjones@chillicotheohio.com
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