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Groveport Council approves land sale in a split vote
(by Rick Palsgrove, Southeast Editor - January 26, 2010)
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| Messenger photo by Rick Palsgrove |
| Groveport Village Council has authorized the sale of this small, village owned downtown lot for $15,000. |
The small vacant lot in Groveport's historic downtown may soon be filled.
At its Jan. 25 meeting, Groveport Village Council approved, by a 4-2 vote, an ordinance authorizing the Groveport Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) to sell the approximately .092 acre vacant lot owned by the village on the south side of Main Street, located across from Groveport Town Hall, to RASL LLC. Council members Jean Ann Hilbert, Donna Drury, Shawn Cleary and Ed Dildine voted in favor while Ed Rarey and Jan Stoots opposed it.
According to the purchase agreement, the offered sale price for the .092 acre lot is $15,000, which is more than its current appraised value of $13,000. The agreement also states the property can only be used for the "construction of buildings and/or expansion of existing buildings for permitted and conditional uses in the (established) community commercial zoning district."
The veterinarian business, located next door to the property, is proposing to expand onto the site. According to Dr. Alec Land and Dr. Rona Shapiro of the Groveport-Canal Animal Hospital, the business is proposing to build an approximately $450,000 two story, brick building on the land that would provide additional space for their veterinary practice as well as retail and office space. They noted the proposed development would bring additional property tax and income tax revenue to the village when completed.
Background
The village purchased the land in 2005 for $235,000. At that time there were three 19th century era storefront buildings on the site. These buildings were torn down in 2006, at a cost of $16,500, after a structural engineer's report determined it could cost up to $360,000 to rehabilitate the aging structures. After demolition the village graded and seeded the site with grass.
Originally, the village bought the land because officials then were considering re-routing Wirt Road through the site to create an intersection connection with Front Street at Main Street.
When that idea was abandoned due to costs and logistics, the village also thought about making the potential commercial development of the site a phase II portion of an overall plan to economically revitalize the historic downtown. But that was not pursued partially due to the estimated high cost of rehabilitating the old structures. (Phase I is the ongoing effort to develop the proposed Groveport Town Center retail/office project on the vacant land on the northeast corner of Main and Front streets.)
Resident Mike Ream told council he was not pleased the village spent a large sum to buy the land and is now proposing to sell it at a substantially lower cost.
"I expect the financial interest of the community to be taken care of," said Ream.
Groveport Law Director Kevin Shannon said the original purchase of the land must be viewed in the context of discussions among village officials about the downtown that took place from 2002 to 2004.
"It's not uncommon for a town to take a dated area and try to revitalize it," said Shannon, adding there was "a great deal" of discussion at the time about the .092 acre site and downtown economic revitalization in general that included elected officials, administrative officials, community members and members of the CIC.
Shannon noted the animal hospital's plans for the site, if nicely developed, could serve as a catalyst for future downtown development.
Land and Shapiro noted the nice appearance and positive uses of their existing commercial property at 645 and 649 Main St. have added to the "charm and beauty" of the downtown and stated their new building would, too.
Council reactions
•"I was not on council when the land was purchased and it was an awful lot to pay for it," said Cleary. "But I like the veterinarian's idea to develop the site. It would be positive economic growth for the downtown. It's time to move forward."
•"We're being visionary with this action," said Hilbert. "The (Groveport-Canal Animal Hospital) veterinarians are making a big investment in our community that will help revitalize and add to the downtown. The veterinarians are nice people and they work hard."
•"This is an opportunity to bring a nice store front to our Main Street," said Drury. "The veterinarians have demonstrated their care for the community with the remodeling of their current building. We should take the opportunity to enhance our Main Street and allow the current business to expand."
•Dildine said, "You can't change the past. Would we ever get $235,000 for this land again? No. But now we have a local business that has already invested heavily in our downtown and is willing to invest even more. Plus there's more control now about what will go on the land and what it will look like."
•Rarey said, "We made a bad deal" to purchase the land originally. He indicated he would rather have seen the property be converted into a park/walkway to provide pedestrian access from the municipal parking lot on Wirt Road to Main Street.
•Stoots said the large difference in cost between what the village paid for the land and what it is selling it for bothered her. She added, "I don't have anything against the veterinarians, but I also didn't feel it was fair to only give one buyer a chance at purchasing the property." However, Stoots further stated she was not upset by how the vote turned out and that what she did hear of the veterinarians' development plans "sounds promising."
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