South of Main Blockwatch

Letter to Councilman Mentel

MainStreet Development

489 Linwood Avenue
Columbus, Oh 43205
October 5, 2005


The Honorable Michael C. Mentel
Columbus City Council
90 W. Broad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Dear Councilman Mentel,

Again, thank you for taking time to meet with us October third of this year on what we consider a serious matter as it relates to the future development of our neighborhood – the development of 1179 E. Main Street.

In short, we the members of the Linwood/Wilson South of Main Blockwatch (LWSMB) believe that the Columbus Compact has not exercised due diligence in determining the best and highest use of this parcel. Large sums of public dollars (1.4 million) have been spent in agreement to secure this property, yet there is no public documentation of how the Compact determined its current decision to pursue rehabilitation and its denial to comply with the Urban Commercial Overlay. We feel that in light of the written response we received from Mr. Beard, he did not come close to answering our questions. Generalizations and unsubstantiated statements e.g. “we’ve set aside substantial funds for Main Street” do not provide assurance that the current course of action is the best one. Although in comparison with other projects (see enclosure Designs on Whittier) the Main Street parcel is small, we firmly believe that the process should be the same.

We (LWSMB) are making a formal request that any further steps to develop 1179 E. Main stop until such time that a full-blown public process has taken place. As I stated in the meeting, we are in full agreement that a neutral third party should facilitate this process.

In addition, I am enclosing the section of the Near East Area Plan, which clearly favors new development of this site.

I look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Sincerely yours,

Kathleen Bailey
President LWSMB

Cc: Mark Barbash, Dept. of Develpment
Walter Chappelear, LWSMB