Village Administrator Haley Lupton said behind-the-scenes work on Plain City’s connectivity and Uptown streetscapes will become more apparent to residents in the coming months.
During the most recent council meeting, Lupton said village employees have been exploring a number of ways to better connect areas of Plain City and make it more walkable for residents.
Along those lines, she said their top goal is to explore ways to connect the west side of town across U.S. 42 to West Avenue and eventually to the Uptown.
She noted that village received approximately $500,000 in grant funding from the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes for All program, which will be used for pedestrian improvements along U.S. 42.
The grant will allow for the installation of sidewalks in front of Der Dutchman, which will connect in front of the Willowbrook subdivision. There will also be a sidewalk extension to connect Village Boulevard with U.S. 42, Lupton said.
She added that a four-way pedestrian intersection with crosswalks will be added where Perry Pike and West Avenue meet with U.S. 42. It will have flashing signs to indicate when pedestrians are crossing.
“That’s going to solve a lot of safety issues around that intersection,” Council member Frank Reed said.
Lupton said village staff are also aware of safety issues farther along West Avenue, and are working to solve them.
Engineering underway for the extension of a culvert, she said, so pedestrians can cross the tributary without walking into the street.
“That’s a very common thing people do right now and it’s pretty dangerous and pretty narrow,” Lupton explained.
Beyond the area of U.S. 42, the village administrator said staff members are also working on a big-picture vision of connectivity throughout the entire village.
It will be accomplished with the help of graduate students at Ohio State.
Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture will begin a connectivity study of Plain City as part of the graduate students’ coursework beginning in January. Lupton said the study will be done at no cost to the village.
She said streets in the Uptown will also become more walkable in the near future, as the current phase of the streetscape project wraps up.
“It should be substantially completed within the next couple of weeks,” Lupton said.
She explained that an unanticipated backorder on the tree grates needed for the project slowed progress on the northwest portion of the Uptown significantly.
Council member Jim Eudaily asked if the contractors could measure and pour concrete around the tree grates while waiting for them to arrive.
Lupton said, because the tree grates are sealed, in-ground boxes rather than simply covers, the contractors needed the grates to ensure concrete poured around them was measured precisely.
“We really wish the contractor would not have demolished all of the concrete before being prepared to repour it, but they did,” she said.
At this point, Lupton said the contractors can use the tree grates that have been received to pour, then remove them and use them to measure in other areas.
Eudaily encouraged Lupton to use the Fourth of July parade as a deadline for the contractors, which Lupton said she has done.
Benches that will be installed should arrive in several weeks, Lupton said, followed by light poles in July. She said delivery dates for those items will not factor into the area becoming “walkable” by July Fourth.
Lupton also noted that the southeast portion of the streetscape project, around the area of the Clock Tower, is in the design phase.
An electrical consultant is evaluating the power needs in that area with a deadline to deliver engineering documents to the village in mid-June.
In other business:
– Council held a public hearing regarding the rezoning of three parcels of land at 354 N. Chillicothe St. and 360 N. Chillicothe St. from Neighborhood Business District (B1) to Community Business District (B2).
The 0.92 acres of land owned by Tim Dawson are commonly known as the location of the former Tobin’s gas station.
Mayor Jody Carney said the property will remain a gas station, but the rezoning is needed to ensure the use is in compliance with the zoning district.
Zoning Inspector Derek Hutchinson explained that, although the site functioned as a gas station for many years, they are not actually permitted in the B1 zoning district.
“It just makes sense” to rezone the property, he said.
No members of the public commented during the hearing. A second reading of the ordinance to rezone the land will be heard by council and voted upon during its next meeting, June 26.
– Council President James Sintz said he is currently reviewing information surrounding noise ordinances in other communities, which has been sent to him by residents and fellow council members.
He said he is working on compiling data into a larger document, which he intends to share with council as members consider whether to alter the village’s current ordinance.