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Groveport Council ends land deal
(by Rick Palsgrove, Southeast Editor - July 13, 2010)
Groveport Village Council repealed legislation that would have authorized the sale of a small parcel of land in the village's historic downtown.
At its July 12 meeting, council voted 4-3 to rescind legislation authorizing the sale of an approximately .092 acre vacant downtown lot owned by the village, located on the south side of Main Street across from Groveport Town Hall, to the Groveport-Canal Animal Hospital (located next door to the lot) for $15,000.
Council members Ed Rarey, Jan Stoots, and Shawn Cleary voted for the repeal while Jean Ann Hilbert, Donna Drury, and Ed Dildine opposed it. Mayor Lance Westcamp voted for the repeal, breaking the tie and ending the sale of the property.
Dr. Alec Land and Dr. Rona Shapiro of the Groveport-Canal Animal Hospital had proposed to expand onto the site and 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. Land noted the proposed development would bring additional property tax and income tax revenue to the village when completed.
The original proposed agreement stated development must begin within six months after the agreement took effect.
However, Land said he needed more time to plan for the development and asked the time frame for development be extended from six months to three years.
"We want to buy the land, we just need more time for development planning," said Land in May when he made the development timeline extension request. "It's not an easy thing because the planning requires input from many sources and the proposed timeline is too fast to allow the gathering of the needed data."
Land made note of the other commercial projects his business has developed in downtown Groveport, at 645 and 649 Main St., as evidence of the positive affect of the business on the community.
Westcamp said he liked Land's plan and supported the project, but he did not want to "tie the village down for three years in case other development" were to occur or if the village decided to use the land for something else.
"I hope he (Land) comes back next year ready to go," said Westcamp. "I still think (Land's plan) is the best thing for the site."
Hilbert, disappointed in the repeal of the sale, noted the Groveport-Canal Animal Hospital is "a good small business in the community that has done a lot for the downtown."
Dildine told Land, "I appreciate your investment. I sincerely hope you'll be willing to continue with your plan, either now or next year."
Law Director Kevin Shannon noted Land can still approach the village at any time about purchasing the property.
Legal quirk
In an unusual procedural problem, the ordinance to repeal initially did not get a second motion for a vote. (Legislation requires council members to make a motion to vote followed by a second by another council member.)
That left the legislation hanging, prompting Shannon to ask for a temporary recess while he researched the legalities of the situation. He determined that, according to the village's Rules of Council and the Village Charter regarding legislation rules and procedures, that an ordinance can't fail for the lack of a second.
Council then reconsidered the legislation with a first and a second motion which then lead to the ordinance's 4-3 repeal.
Background on the property
The village purchased the .092 acre 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 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 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.)
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