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Housing Committee Minutes – February 5, 2019

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2/5/19 Meeting of Weinland Park Community Civic Association Housing Committee at Godman Guild
Present: Resident co-chairs Laura Bidwa, Matt Adair, and Sean Storey; Residents Julie Erickson, Davide Cugini, Donna Madlener, John Gifford, Chris Micciche, Brian Williams, Ben Davis, Nathanael Augenstein; Guests Karrick Sherrill (Shremshock Architects and Engineers), Erin Prosser (Campus Partners).

Davide Cuigini request to use garage on otherwise vacant lot: Laura Bidwa moved to support the request, Donna Madlener seconded. Vote results: 6 for, 0 opposed.

Karrick Sherrill re: beginning of new plans for NW corner of Summit & 5th

  • Economic viability of past plan became less so, and when University District Zoning Overlay was codified, it changed project financials
  • 2 variances anticipated: Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 3.2 (1.4 max in code) and height of 60 feet (45 feet max in code)
  • UAC zoning committee wanted first-floor commercial in the project. This would likely increase height a few feet b/c 1st floor would be taller.
  • Qs from Karrick Sherrill: Is commercial important? Is housing lobby enough, or would it have to be retail? On Summit or Fifth or both?
  • Committee: Where would commercial clients park? KS: We are concerned about commercial being too large. Smaller scale would work better, maybe need a variance. Prob wouldn’t need structured parking.
  • General committee response of no enthusiasm for 1st floor parking and general desire for activity on first floor. Less concern about height. KS: We think structured parking isn’t financially feasible. Parking would be lost. Look at the building on NE corner of 4th and 4th – it has first-floor parking. Apts “drip down” over the parking – see little green boxes on drawing. Committee: We still want commercial. Fifth Ave can pull commercial traffic off High St.
  • Rotate so activity is on Fifth rather than Summit? Yes, b/c Summit is residential and one-way.
  • Change Frances to 2-way? It is already, up to the alley, and widened.

Campus Partners Doubles: 6 doubles are left in Weinland Park Collaborative portfolio. (Money that purchased them was from Columbus Foundation, Chase Foundation, and Campus Partners, not Campus Partners alone.) Housing Committee has recommended that 3 of the doubles go to the new city/county land trust, which would demolish and built new single-family homes on the sites. But Housing Committee wants to investigate saving 3 of the doubles – one that’s in the New Indianola Historic District and cannot be demolished, and 2 others that still have historic architectural features and are located in blocks that also retain some historic architectural fabric. So committee has invited those who might be interested in rehabbing the doubles and selling them for market-rate homeownership. Priorities at this point are: preserve exterior architectural features, separate sewer lines, and sell as condos.

  • What about timeline to get construction started – don’t want them to sit for years longer. Can that go into the contract? Land bank would require cash on hand, which should help.
  • Ben Davis is only interested in renting them afterward. He’ll still be interested if committee decides against condo-ing. Nathanael Augustein is also interested in rental rather than rehabbing and selling.
  • Interested in rehabbing and selling as condos but not present at the meeting: Gary Dun, the owner of MapleCraft Homes (built Zora’s House, the skinny house on 6th St and 8th Ave and also the remodel of 1299 Summit and Kramer Place in Italian Village), and another small rehab/construction company that’s been in touch with Laura.
  • Erin Prosser will prep a summary (photos with some property info), circulate to committee chairs, then all will share to try to find more interested parties. Want to see these finished and on the market before end of season.

Community Garden update: informal mtg on Feb 24 at Donna Madlener’s to get leaders in touch. Talk about plans for spring.
Safety on Summit at 6th and 7th Avenues: John Gifford will check with Lauren Squires about UAC planning mtg tomorrow.