| News from Campus Partners | |
Campus Partners has nearly finalized negotiations with the City of Columbus on the economic development agreement to be executed between the new Gateway Area Revitalization Initiative (a Campus Partners affiliate) and the City of Columbus. This agreement establishes the obligations of the corporation to undertake the project in accordance with agreed upon standards and defines the public improvements and actions which will be needed of the city for the project to move forward. City Council is scheduled to consider the ordinance authorizing the agreement at its meeting on Dec. 6.
Council action on the Tax Increment Financing ordinance is scheduled for Dec. 13. Extensive work has been completed on the parking structure demand and financial analyses. User fees and non-school TIF revenues will fund the majority of this project.
City Council has tentatively scheduled a public hearing for Dec. 14 on the draft Relocation Plan (which gets formally triggered by the eminent domain action), with the ultimate adoption of the plan likely to occur in January 2000.
Property Management
Campus Partners recently completed a major clean-up effort around the former Big Bear site and surrounding vacant properties. Vacant lots were mowed, trash picked up, old fences were removed to allow visual inspection into dark, recessed areas, and broken windows were boarded over. With the assistance of Buckeye Realty staff, Campus Partners inspected every building in preparation for winter and took appropriate steps to prevent damage from freezing temperatures, snow and ice build-up and the increased break-ins which occur with colder temperatures.
University District Code Enforcement Task Force
The University District Code Enforcement Task Force met on Oct. 12 and Nov. 9. Representatives of the City's Building and Development Services Section have been exploring ways to regulate porch furniture within the University District. The city attorney has been requested to assist Building and Development Services, Code Enforcement inspectors, with regulating porch furniture.
The Northside Development Corporation has begun accepting applications for the city's Exterior Envelope Grant Program to assist low- and fixed-income homeowners in the University District to make needed repairs to their houses as ordered by code enforcement. Under the program, the city will provide a grant for home improvements of up to $10,000 to a homeowner who meets the income criteria. To date, Northside Development has received 27 applications for the Exterior Envelope Grant Program. Campus Partners staff has been working with Northside to process the program applications.
The next meeting of the University District Code Enforcement Task Force will be Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 3:30 p.m. at the city's Building and Development Services office, 757 Carolyn Ave.
The proposed University Uptown Improvement District steering committee continues to work on a draft business plan with a goal to begin circulating petitions in early 2000 to create the special improvement district (SID). Wayne Garland of Buckeye Real Estate and Paul Watkins of Student Book Exchange are co-chairing the Steering Committee for the University Uptown Improvement District. Lawrence O. Houstoun, Jr., one of the nation's leading authorities on business improvement districts (BIDs), continues to consult with the Steering Committee.
The Steering Committee held the first community meeting on the proposed SID on Sept. 8. Letters announcing the meeting were sent to more than 1,000 property and business owners in the University District. Four program committees - safety and hospitality; environment (graffiti, litter, sidewalk cleaning, etc.); parking; and marketing and promotions - met on Sept. 29 to prepare a list of services which the SID should offer. The reports from the program committees were presented at the second community meeting on Oct. 13. (Postcards announcing these meetings on Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 were sent to more than 700 property and business owners.)
Representatives of the Steering Committee met earlier this month with two national and two local service providers to obtain estimates for the environmental services proposed for the SID. The Community Crime Patrol has provided cost estimates for increasing its safety and hospitality services. The Steering Committee is likely to meet later this month or early in December to review the cost estimates for services, to consider a proposed budget for the SID and possible assessment formulas, and to discuss governance issues.
The Campus Partners Safety Coordinating Committee has met Sept.8, Oct. 13 and Nov. 10 and will meet next on Wednesday, Dec. 8, at 2:30 p.m. at the Fawcett Center, 2400 Olentangy River Road. The following safety-related issues are being dealt with in the University District.
Fires. Police and fire officials were quite concerned with the number of fires set in dumpsters and couches in September and October. Fire fighters made as many as 30 runs in one weekend to put out these nuisance fires. Columbus Police Lt. Rick Mann said the problem of set fires was the worst he had seen in nine years in the University District. In response, Columbus Police in mid-October adopted a "no tolerance" policy on open container violations and unruly parties. The number of fires dropped off. An incident on Oct. 27, however, underscored the seriousness of the problem. Two houses on East Woodruff Avenue were severely damaged and students lost their belongings when a couch was set on fire between the buildings.
Emergency phones. The first "blue light" emergency telephone was installed off-campus at East 14th Avenue and Pearl Street last March. Six additional emergency phones are scheduled to be installed in the predominantly student neighborhood. Their installation has been delayed, however, because the city improperly identified the utility poles to which the phones are to be connected. This problem is being worked out.
Festival planning. Bill Hall, chair of the Safety Coordinating Committee, has called key law enforcement officials and community leaders together to begin planning the public safety aspects of the annual African American Heritage Arts Festival next May. The first meeting of the planning group was Nov. 10. The group will meet monthly.
Youth outreach. Huckleberry House, a social service agency for troubled young people, is located at 1421 Hamlet St. in the University District. Although it provides services citywide, Huckleberry House has a youth outreach program focused on the University District. Rachel Norris, youth outreach specialist and a Social Work graduate of Ohio State, explained her program to the Safety Coordinating Committee. Her agency can provide short-term shelter, connections to job training and after-school programs, and a sympathetic ear. She noted that the University District draws young teenagers and that there is an informal network of places to stay and hang out.
Burglaries Remain a Problem. The Columbus Division of Police noted a steep rise in the number of burglaries reported in the Fourth Precinct (University District) in October 1999 compared with October 1998. One "hot spot" for burglaries was the area bounded by East 13th Avenue on the north, Seventh Avenue on the south, High Street on the west and the Conrail tracks on the east. The police are planning a "burglary special" with undercover and plainclothes officers that should be in place before Thanksgiving. In addition, more than 30 student volunteers worked with 15 Columbus police officers and Community Crime Patrol staff on Nov. 4 to distribute 5,000 copies of a crime prevention flyer door-to-door in the predominantly student neighborhood. Campus Partners staff helped to organize this event.
The Columbus Police, University Police and Community Crime Patrol still are planning another joint "burglary special" for December 1999 and early January 2000 to target burglars which prey on the University District when students leave for the holidays.
Campus Partners also is working with the Ohio State chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America on a public information campaign to prevent burglaries. The campaign will be targeted at Ohio State students. PRRSA chapter is working on ideas involving bus posters, print ads, flyers and other media. The goal is to launch the campaign before spring break.
Student Safety Initiatives. Steve Leffingwell, president of Evans Scholars, and Shane Hankins, undergraduate student representative on the University Area Commission, are following up their work on the emergency telephones with new ideas for student involvement in public safety. They have proposed an "Adopt-a-Street" program under which student organizations each would take responsibility for a street. They would pick up litter periodically, distribute crime prevention materials and encourage neighborhood involvement. Ron Meyers, who in addition to serving on the Campus Partners board is president of the Council of Graduate Students, has proposed "BuckEyes Watch," a student leadership development program in the neighborhood. "BuckEyes Watch" also has a safety component. Both ideas are being explored by a Student Safety Initiative Committee which meets regularly in the Campus Partners office. The committee hopes to pilot both programs beginning winter quarter.
Student Advisory Board
The Campus Partners Student Advisory Board, chaired by Seth Dannemiller, held its first meeting of autumn quarter on Oct. 5. The board followed that with a forum on public safety on Oct. 26. The forum gave students an opportunity to discuss their concerns with officials from the Columbus Police, University Police, Community Crime Patrol, Columbus Division of Fire, and others. The forum was successful and brought out students interested in working on safety issues.
The Student Advisory Board held two meetings for students with William Whitney, project manager for The Druker Company. The meetings were Nov. 15 in Baker Residence Hall and Nov. 16 in the Campus Partners office. The purpose of the meetings was to give students and other community members an update on the development of the University Gateway Center. The different dates, time and locations of the meetings were to allow as many students as possible to attend.
Jerry Edwards, administrator of the city's Refuse Collection Division, reported to the Campus Partners Public Service Committee on Oct. 20 that his division had implemented the dumpster zone for the predominantly student neighborhood east of High Street. He said that his crews had placed 59 eight-cubic-yard metal dumpsters in the neighborhood to replace the black plastic 300-gallon containers. The plastic containers had been the target of arsonists. When burned, the containers melted, potentially allowing the fire to escape.
The next meeting of the Public Service Committee will deal with refuse collection and will be Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2000, at 4 p.m. in the Campus Partners office. The next meeting of the committee to deal with street sweeping will be Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2000, in the Campus Partners office.
Home | News | History & Organization | Committees | Contact
Campus Partners for Community Urban Redevelopment, Inc.
1824 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43201
(614) 294-7300; fax (614) 294-7333