What a difference a day makes
CEDA off table, other options open
Thursday, June 29, 2006
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Pickerington officials may pursue a joint development agreement with Violet Township and Canal Winchester, although the city's inclusion in an existing pact is no longer an option.
Last fall, Pickerington City Council approved a memorandum of understanding expressing the city's commitment to collaborating with its two neighbors in attracting businesses to the area.
One of the primary reasons for the gesture was the city's desire to become an ex post facto partner in the Cooperative Economic Development Agreement (CEDA) that Violet Township forged with Canal Winchester in June 2001, after it previously refused to sign on.
The CEDA, which stipulates the sharing of costs and revenues associated with marketing and servicing growth in a specified area, has since enticed two business parks and a medical center to the 1,533-acre swath of land surrounding the recently completed interchange at U.S. Route 33 and Hill and Diley roads.
Following more than six months of negotiations, however, representatives of the three entities have decided that adding Pickerington into the CEDA would become cost-prohibitive.
According to Councilman Jeff Fix, Mayor David Shaver's appointed representative in the talks, Canal Winchester has already pumped upwards of $3-million into the project since 2001 and is now only beginning to see returns on its investment.
Fix said for Pickerington to enter into the CEDA now, it would have to pony up approximately $1.5-million at a time when the city is struggling to finance some outstanding debts.
Council is now reviewing an updated memorandum of understanding that has removed entering the CEDA from the table, which, according to Fix, is more of a step forward than backward for the city.
''Rather than continue to be hung up on the CEDA, we thought it would be better to take a broad look at all the opportunities in the area,'' he said.
Now looking beyond the CEDA, the three jurisdictions are focusing on other sections of the area that are prime for economic growth, including 712 acres between Hill and Amanda-Northern roads, which the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission expects to be 100-percent built out in the next 20 years.
Pickerington's development consultant, John McGory, said the updated memorandum has also identified opportunities on 857 acres between Allen and Carroll-Northern roads north of Route 33.
This undeveloped area will become very attractive once the Ohio Department of Transportation completes an interchange at Route 33 and Carroll Road in the next two to three years, McGory said.
Although he conceded that point, McGory said the potential benefits outweigh the risks.
''You'd rather have something in the game than nothing,'' he said, adding that the Pickerington area would have an advantage in attracting development because it is a desirable residential community for business leaders.
Also, that area near Carroll-Northern Road has already generated interest from an unconfirmed manufacturing company as a possible site for a 1,500-acre development,
McGory said Following council's discussion June 20, Wisniewski said the city is interested in continuing collaborative talks with Violet Township and Canal Winchester but would only adopt the memorandum of understanding if considerations of a joint parks district and comprehensive thoroughfare plan were removed from the agreement and a stipulation allowing other potential jurisdictions to join in is made more specific.
Fix said he would take council's input back to the meetings with Violet Township and Canal Winchester representatives to address these concerns.
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