Weinland Park Community Civic Association

Housing Committee
Summary of Meeting of August 8, 2016
Present: Sean Storey, Matt Martin, Sheldon Johnson, Erin Prosser, Isabel Toth, Joe Williams,
Steve Bollinger, Jen Mankin, Laura Bidwa, Rory Krupp, Robert Barksdale and Ed Chin.
Matt Martin, committee co-chair, called the meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. at Godman Guild
Association.
Duplexes. Erin Prosser, community relations director of Campus Partners, presented a proposal
to renovate two of the six duplex properties in Weinland Park owned by Campus Partners. She
said the two duplexes would be renovated and converted to two licensed Type-B family childcare
homes. The two units in each duplex would be combined to permit a family to live in the
property and provide childcare in the home. The two duplexes would serve 12 children.
Isabel Toth, president of Community Properties of Ohio Management Services, explained the
proposal in more depth. She said CPO would oversee the conversion of the duplexes and would
identify two low-income families who could rent the properties and provide the home-based
childcare services. CPO would work with other local agencies to provide training and support to
the families in starting the business. Ms. Toth said the conversion of the two duplexes would help
to meet mid-range rental housing options for two families in Weinland Park, would help to meet
the demand for childcare in Weinland Park, and would provide entrepreneurship opportunities. In
response to a question, Ms. Toth said the proposal is being presented now because an Early Head
Start grant to The Ohio State University has funds designated to support two home-based
childcare facilities in Weinland Park.
Among the concerns raised by committee members during the discussion of the proposal were:
The location of the home-based childcare businesses on North Fifth and North Sixth streets
may not be appropriate on these residential streets.
The tenants in the duplexes will require support and training to be successful in the difficult
business of childcare.
The number of children in the childcare homes could result in conflicts with neighbors.
Grant Park. Joe Williams and Steve Bollinger of Wagenbrenner Development presented site
plans for the build-out of new housing in Grant Park along the east side of North Grant Avenue.
The housing will be a mixture of apartment flats, apartment townhomes, condominium flats, forsale duplexes, and for-sale townhomes. The potential number of units total about 450. Mr.
Williams expects the apartments will be a more affordable alternative to the Short North. He said
Wagenbrenner will not charge for the parking. He said construction of the first apartments could
begin this fall.
Among the comments from committee members were:
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A suggestion to create more differentiation among the apartment buildings along Grant
Avenue from East Seventh to East Ninth avenues.
A suggestion to develop a menu of potential amenities for the green space.

In response to a question, Mr. Williams said the Ohio EPA still hasnt completed the paperwork
to certify the 3M site has been remediated. As a result, no work can be done on the site.
Greater Ohio. Sheldon Johnson of Greater Ohio Policy Center reported he met with several
civic association leaders a few weeks ago to discuss his consulting work in Weinland Park. Three
suggestions for his work emerged from the discussion:
Conduct a conditions survey of properties in Weinland Park.
Research strategies to address a lack of mid-range housing options.
Discuss with various stakeholders how the process of the Housing Committee could be more
efficient and effective.
He said further conversations will take place in August to clarify the remainder of the consulting
contract with Greater Ohio Policy Center.
Property conditions. Sean Storey, committee co-chair, said he would like a better understanding
of property conditions in Weinland Park. As examples, he offered: What are current average
rents? How many college students are moving into the neighborhood? How many governmentsubsidized housing units are in the neighborhood? Mr. Storey suggested asking volunteers from
the committee to walk assigned sections of the neighborhood and gather data to answer key
questions about the state of the neighborhood. Laura Bidwa, Rory Krupp and Michael Wilkos
volunteered to participate in such a survey. Mr. Martin suggested devoting time at the next
meeting of the Housing Committee to discussing a survey of property conditions. Mr. Johnson
agreed the suggestions from Mr. Storey will be considered as part of the changes in the scope of
consulting work.
In other matters discussed by the committee:
In response to a question, Mr. Martin said Ohio States Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race
and Ethnicity currently is conducting a survey of Weinland Park residents as a follow-up to
the extensive survey conducted in 2010. Mr. Wilkos said staff from the Kirwan Institute
collected 35 completed surveys at the National Night Out event in Weinland Park.
Steve Sterrett reported he is waiting to get a meeting date with Rita Parise, housing
administrator for the city, to discuss The NRP Groups lease-to-purchases houses.
Rory Krupp urged everyone to take the citys survey on the commercial planning overlay
related to the citys University District plan.
The business of the Housing Committee being completed, Mr. Martin adjourned the meeting at
7:50 p.m.

Summary prepared by Steve Sterrett.

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