Author Archives: Scott Biggs

Block Watch and Code Enforcement meetings will now precede FPCA meetings

We have made changes to our monthly meeting to become more efficient. Block Watch/Security and Code Enforcement/Development now have their own meetings preceding the FPCA meetings every month. Location is Epworth United Church at 5100 Karl Rd. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend all meetings.

Tuesday, June 13 – 6 to 6:30 pm
Block Watch/Security Meeting
Our Columbus Police Liaison officer Dan Yandrich and FPCA Supplemental Security Chair Daryl Van Mercetta will provide updates and take questions prior to the FPCA monthly meeting. Security issues will NOT be discussed at the regular FPCA meeting. If you have any concerns about crime and enforcement issues, THIS is where you get answers and make a difference.

Tuesday, June 13 – 6:30 to 7 pm
Code Enforcement/NCC Development Report
If you have any questions regarding any code issues (semi-trucks, cars parked on street, neighbor’s grass is uncut, etc.), this is the time to come and talk with the FPCA President and NCC Development Commission officers concerning those issues. You also get updates on what is being built around the neighborhood, roundabouts, street lights, speed bumps, traffic changes, etc. Code issues will NOT be discussed at the regular FPCA meeting.

Tuesday, June 13 – FPCA Monthly Meeting – All welcome!
7 to 8 pm – Epworth United Church, 5100 Karl Rd.
Get updates on community events, issues and news. Sit in and watch or get involved. Note the change in security and development reports above.

Join us in the Northland Community Fourth of July Parade

The 59th annual parade, sponsored by the Northland Community Council, has set a 2023 theme of “Stronger Together”.

The parade is the only one in Central Ohio that occurs on the actual Independence Day holiday: Tuesday, July 4th.

The parade begins at 11 a.m. on July 4 in the Home Buys parking lot at Karl Rd. and Morse Rd. and travels north on Karl Road from Morse Road to Dublin-Granville Road (1.7 miles). It includes all of our favorite parade entries, including floats, cars, fire and police vehicles, veterans groups, bands, and others.

Kids can be in the parade on their bikes, trikes and scooters

Kids can decorate their bikes, tricycles, and scooters and meet us at the parking area in front of the Woodward Park Middle School at 10:30 a.m. on July 4. The Bikes and Trikes will enter the parade when the Forest Park entry reaches the school and will proceed to Dublin-Granville Rd. Kids can exit the parade at Sandalwood Blvd. if they do not want to make the full trip.

The FPCA will present awards based on two themes: “Stronger Together” and “Patriotism”.

Parents or guardians must register participants and sign a waiver on site. Children five years of age and under must be accompanied by a parent or older child during the parade. All children will need to wear a helmet if riding a bicycle.

Help us organize and judge Bikes & Trikes

We need some volunteers to help us. It is a simple and fun job: just show up Woodward Park Middle School at 10:30 a.m. on July 4. If you would like to judge the Bikes & Trikes, email volunteerfpca@gmail.com.

Help build the FPCA float

We are seeking people to help plan and build our FPCA float and march with our parade entry. Our past entries have collected top awards from the parade organizers and promote our wonderful Forest Park neighborhood. Our 2022 float – designed and built by Mary Sguerra and Randy Via – won the “Best In Theme” award. Email volunteerfpca@gmail.com now to help.

Your organization, team or business can be in the parade

The registration fee for Commercial businesses is $85 on or before June 19 and $120 after that date. The registration fee for each politician is $135 on or before June 19 and $170 after that date. There is no registration fee for all other registrants, but the NCC asks you to consider supporting the parade by making a donation to help cover the parade’s expenses. You can also register to be a sponsor of the parade and receive additional recognition.

Find more information and register your entry at northlandparade.org/get-involved/be-in-the-parade/.

Learn more about the parade at northlandparade.org.

Photos by Dave Paul.

2024 Forest Park Community Garage Sale

2024 FOREST PARK SPRING COMMUNITY GARAGE SALE

Saturday, May 18, 2024, 9 am to 3 pm
Find Forest Park East and West on Google Maps

Everyone is invited to host their own garage sale. There is no charge. The more sales, the better the event! The FPCA advertises the sale around Columbus to draw visitors.

If you want to list your garage sale on the maps we hand out at Karl Rd. and Sandalwood on May 18, submit your form and $5 on page 7 of the May 2024 Forester Newsletter.

Maps and listings of addresses of participants will be handed out at the East and West Island entrances to Forest Park at Sandalwood Blvd. and Karl Rd. from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the day of the sale.

City of Columbus hearing on hotel rezoning set for Feb. 9, 2023

By Scott Biggs, FPCA Volunteer Coordinator

The future of the former hotel property at 1289 E. Dublin-Granville Rd. near Satinwood Dr. in Forest Park West will be on the agenda at a Feb. 9 public hearing by the City of Columbus’ Development Commission. The property is between Popeye’s Chicken and Satinwood Dr.

Adjacent property owners should have already been notified of this meeting directly by the city. All Forest Park residents can attend the 4:30 p.m. hearing, watch it online, and email statements for consideration. See below for more information.

HOW TO ATTEND OR WATCH THE HEARING

The Development Commission of the City of Columbus will hold a public hearing on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, to consider rezoning the hotel from commercial to residential.

The public hearing will be at the Michael B. Coleman Government Center, Second Floor Public Hearing Room, 111 North Front St., Columbus, OH 43215. The hearing begins at 4:30 p.m. and is expected to include eight applications including this rezoning application for the 1289 property. The agenda shows this issue listed as fifth of the eight applications at the hearing (this is subject to change).

Parking is available in the parking garage located north of the Michael B. Coleman Government Center and is accessed from Ludlow Alley north of West Long St.

SUBMIT TESTIMONY VIA EMAIL

The FPCA encourages residents to submit testimony via email before the deadline. Please reference Record Z22-083: 1289 E DUBLIN-GRANVILLE RD.

Anyone wishing to provide testimony in favor or in opposition to this rezoning can submit a statement in writing via email to Tim Dietrich at tedietrich@columbus.gov. Written testimony must be received at this email by noon on the day of the meeting.

WATCH THE MEETING ON YOUTUBE

You can attend the meeting in person and also watch the hearing online at the city’s YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/cityofcolumbus.

ABOUT THE REQUEST

The Community Shelter Board is requesting a rezoning that would permit the use of the former Red Carpet Inn property containing 82 units for long-term, permanent supportive housing under lease to Homefull.

This request was the subject of a well-attended monthly meeting of the Forest Park Civic Association on Jan. 10 at Epworth United Methodist Church.

More than 60 Forest Park residents listened as the Community Shelter Board and its partners described their plans for the property. Homefull, which provides property management and case management for a property at 1111 Mediterranean Ave. (located in a former hotel behind The Waffle House near I-71) would lease the hotel property and provide the same services at the 1289 site. The Community Shelter Board explained that the property would serve as permanent supportive housing for disabled homeless people.

NCC VOTES TO RECOMMEND AGAINST REZONING

The Northland Community Council’s Development Committee considered this application at its Jan. 26 meeting and voted 15-0 to recommend that the City of Columbus DISAPPROVE (reject) the rezoning. The City is not required to abide by the NCC’s recommendation, but the unanimous consensus is expected to carry some influence in the City’s decision.

The Northland Community Council (NCC) represents 26 area civic associations and organizations in the Northland area. The NCC represents more than 100,000 households and ensures that the City of Columbus recognizes Northland as an important political voice. Two FPCA volunteers currently serve on the commission and provide detailed reports at every FPCA meeting. Ed Vanasdale, the current president of the FPCA, and Dave Paul both serve on the NCC Development Committee.

Dave Paul, a co-chair of the NCC Development Committee, a representative of the Northland Community Alliance, and an active member of the Forest Park Civic Association, explained his concerns at the January FPCA meeting. While acknowledging that there is a need for affordable housing for disabled residents in the city, Paul noted that the rezoning would permanently allow residential use for the hotel property. This would mean that if the Community Shelter Board abandoned its plans at any time, the hotel could be used by another group for a variety of residential uses that could negatively affect the neighborhood.

Residents at the FPCA meeting raised concerns that the proposed plans would attract increased crime, vagrancy, alcohol abuse, drug activity and other issues in its vicinity. They asked how residents would be monitored, how they qualify to participate in the housing, and what security services would be in place. Several mentioned current issues with panhandlers in the I-71 and Dublin-Granville Rd. area and concerns that the situation could worsen.

THANK YOU TO OUR NCC REPRESENTATIVES

Many thanks to Ed Vanasdale and Dave Paul for their continued VOLUNTEER work to represent all residents of Forest Park on this issue and many more that protect our interests. They spend a lot of time in service to their community.

Part of your $25 annual FPCA membership helps fund the NCC and its important work to represent Northland in decisions made by the City of Columbus. If you have not joined the FPCA this year, please consider membership.

Former Red Carpet motel seeks zoning change (updated version)

*** UPDATE TO PREVIOUS POST: The hearing of this case by the Northland Community Council Development Committee has been postponed from December 7, 2022, to its January 25, 2023, meeting (at the earliest). ***

The owner of the former Red Carpet Inn at 1289 Dublin-Granville Rd. (between Satinwood Dr. and Popeye’s Restaurant in Forest Park West) has requested a zoning change.

THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE CONTAINED INACCURACIES. WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE.

Former Red Carpet motel seeks zoning change (updated version)

*** UPDATE TO PREVIOUS POST: The hearing of this case by the Northland Community Council Development Committee has been postponed from December to its January 25, 2023, meeting (at the earliest). ***

The owner of the former Red Carpet Inn at 1289 Dublin-Granville Rd. (between Satinwood Dr. and Popeye’s Restaurant in Forest Park West) has requested a zoning change.

The owner of the former Red Carpet Inn at 1289 Dublin-Granville Rd. (between Satinwood Dr. and Popeye’s Restaurant) has requested a zoning change that may allow the owner to rent/lease the property to the Community Shelter Board.

THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE CONTAINED INACCURACIES. WE WILL PROVIDE UPDATES AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE.

Manager of the city’s 311 service promotes new features at FPCA meeting

Carmen Duckens and Darian Price from the City of Columbus 311 Department (fourth and seventh from left) with FPCA officers and other residents at the November 2022 FPCA meeting.

One of the most important services that the Forest Park Civic Association provides is our close relationship with the City of Columbus and its officials.

With nealy 3,000 households in Forest Park and more than 100,000 households in the Northland Area, we are able to speak with a common voice that is larger than our voices as individuals.

As a result, we were happy to welcome representatives from the city’s 311 service at our November FPCA meeting. Carmen Duckens, 311 Service Manager, and Darian Price, a 311 Service Representative, provided a presentation the service’s new features.

The 311 service is your primary customer service connection to the City of Columbus. It is available online, by phone, via email, and with the 311 mobile app for your smartphone.

For 20 years, 311 has connected residents to the city’s services and resources. The improved website and the new CBUS 311 mobile app makes it easier to submit your service requests 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can look up your trash collection day, report code and animal violations, request information about social services, ask about licenses and permits, contact officials, and perform dozens of other similar tasks. Carmen noted that bulk trash pickup requests are the most popular requests from residents.

Notably, Columbus now will pick up old televisions. Previously, it did not accept older model tube TVs.

Carmen explained that her staff of 18 Customer Service Representatives handle nearly half a million 311 contacts a year. The representatives field the requests and route them to the appropriate city department. The 311 service is available live Monday through Friday and recently expanded its hours from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

After maintaining the same number of staff members since 2006, the 311 staff is expanding this year to handle a continual increase in contacts. They are actively hiring now to add staff. The staff expansion will allow the department to staff the center on Saturdays.

Carmen and Darian walked the attendees through the service and answered questions from Forest Park residents. She also distributed tote bags full of information about city services, magnets, and COVID-19 test kits.

The newly improved 311 version includes several convenient new features:

SMART GROUPING OF REQUESTS
Learn right away if an issue has already been reported. View the community map to see other requests in your area.

UNIQUE RESPONSE FIELDS
New information fields to speed the accurate routing of requests to the right areas.

PIN DROP ACCURACY
Describe your request with pinpoint accuracy by dropping a pin on the exact location where service is needed.

NEW INFORMATIONAL ARTICLES
Access the library of articles in the Knowledge base to learn about city processes and policies.

You can contact 311 online at www.columbus.gov/311, by phone at (614) 645-3111, and by email at 311@columbus.gov. You can also download the CBUS311 mobile app.

Representative of Columbus 311 Service is the featured guest at the November FPCA Meeting

A representative from the City of Columbus 311 Call Center will be the featured speaker at the next Forest Park Civic Association meeting. The rep will give a presentation on how to use the city’s new online 311 reporting system and answer questions from attendees. As a resident of Columbus, the 311 service is our one stop “customer service” contact for all non-emergency city services.

https://www.columbus.gov/311/

All Forest Park residents are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The church where we meet each month (thank you for donating your space, Epworth United!) will also host voting on that day. We meet in a separate room.

If you have not yet joined or renewed your membership for the year, you can join at the meeting, via your November Forester Newsletter, or online below.

November FPCA Meeting
7 – 8 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022
Epworth United Methodist Church
5100 Karl Rd.

Toro Meat Market will be the featured guest at the October FPCA meeting

A representative of the new Toro Meat Market will be the featured guest at October’s FPCA meeting. They will speak on their experiences taking over the former Carfagna’s market location at 1405 E. Dublin Granville Rd. and serving the Forest Park community.

The meeting will also include updates from committee chairs, including area development updates from the Northland Community Council and neighborhood security reports from our police liaison and security chairman. Attendees can raise issues and ask questions.

We are looking forward to seeing all FPCA Area Reps at the meeting.

All residents of Forest Park are invited! (We will wrap it up on time so we can watch The Guardians win!)

FPCA October Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022
7 – 8 p.m.
Epworth United Methodist Church
5100 Karl Rd., Columbus, OH 43229

The Fall Forest Park Community Garage Sale is Sept. 17

Clean out your garage and basement and get ready for the Forest Park Community Garage Sale!

The Forest Park Civic Association’s Fall Community Garage Sale is Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and typically features more than 100 individual sales throughout Forest Park East and West. Bargain-hunters from across Central Ohio travel to Forest Park looking for deals. Ads for the event are posted in local newspapers and social media.

Visitors can enter Forest Park East and West and pick up maps at Karl Rd. and Sandalwood Pl. in the Northland Area of Columbus. [Find Directions on Google Maps]

Maps and listings of garage sale addresses will be handed out at the East and West island entrances at Karl Rd. and Sandalwood Pl. on the day of the sale. Residents can include their sale address and items on the map and ads for $5 per household. The fee helps with the cost of advertising.

We need volunteers to hand out maps! Volunteer at volunteerFPCA@gmail.com.

INCLUDE YOUR SALE ON OUR MAP

To include your sale in the map and ads, see the form in the September 2022 issue of The Forester Newsletter, delivered to your door.

Don’t have a copy of the Forester? You can list your Name, Address, Email, Phone and your Featured Sale Items on a piece of paper and mail it with your check for $5 made payable to the FPCA by Sept. 14. (Your name, phone number and email will not be published).

Mail or drop it off to Mary Sguerra, 5395 Pine Bluff Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43229.

If you have questions, call Mary at 614-818-7636.