Foes battle apartment complex
Opponents of ‘whale’-sized project look to legal help
They’ve lost battles at various levels, but opponents of a controversial apartment building project in Schumacher Place on the edge of German Village are now resorting to lawyers and whales in their fight.
Residents are raising money to hire legal help for a possible court battle against the 262-unit apartment complex proposed for a former Giant Eagle store site at 280 E. Whittier St.
And they put up signs showing a depiction of a whale in a neighborhood pond saying “It’s TOO BIG!” and urging the Columbus City Council to vote against the rezoning needed to start work.
“A while back, someone made comments that putting this 262-unit apartment complex on parking lot would be like putting a whale in a pond – it just doesn’t fit,” explained John Clark, a German Village resident who is among those opposing the apartment development.
So neighborhood residents opposed to the project are wearing whale
costumes as they periodically walk the area to solicit support for their cause. Another walk was held Saturday.
“People have gone all out, people with whale hats, facemasks. An inflatable whale travels with us,” said Regina Acosta Tobin, a real estate agent and German Village resident who is one of the leaders of the resistance movement, now called Neighborhoods for Responsible Development.
The issue: A 262-unit apartment project the Pizzuti Companies have been working for more than a year to build in the heart of neighborhoods with narrow brick streets, two-story homes and very engaged residents.
The Columbus City Council still needs to vote on the rezoning, and that hasn’t been scheduled yet, although the vote might come in May.
But the Columbus South Side Area Commission has signed off on it, as has the Columbus Development Commission in a 3-2 vote, a month after the commission told Pizzuti to come up with a better plan.
Many residents say the revised plan was barely a change. They continue to say the apartment building is too tall and big for the area. They still want a 38-foot maximum height for the entire project, and a parking ratio of one apartment unit to one parking space.
“I really think there is room for compromise,” said Chris Hune, president of the German Village Society, who is concerned because the project is at German Village’s doorstep.
“I have said this to Joel Pizzuti (the developer’s president and chief operating officer), we just need to get the height down. Three floors, and everyone will go away,” Hune said.
“We want the site to be developed. It just needs to mesh into the neighborhood.”
This argument has been made in neighborhoods all over Columbus as developers have been building taller buildings on larger footprints in popular urban neighborhoods including the Short North, Franklinton and Olde Towne East.
Meanwhile, about 25-30 people have donated to the cause of retaining a zoning lawyer to possibly fight the Pizzuti project, Tobin said.
“Nothing loosens the wallet more than angry people,” she said.
Clark said residents want “to look at every single thing they’re doing under the law. We need to look at this from a legal standpoint. If it passes council, next stop is appeals court.”
Curtis Davis, a Columbus South Side area commissioner who favors the development, said Whittier Street is a major corridor, such as High Street and Livingston and Parsons avenues. He said the easy way to satisfy 95% of the people is to say that the processes and laws are being followed.
“I don’t know what they are going to accomplish by wasting money on an attorney,” Davis said. “You’re going to have density in those areas. They don’t have a legal standing.
“What as a group are you doing to be responsible? Are you just complaining, or do you have a plan?”
Mike Shannon, a lawyer representing Pizzuti, did not respond to an email and phone messages.
Clark, who lives on City Park Avenue in German Village, about a half-mile from the site, said the area has rallied to oppose other projects, including a plan for a Cooper Stadium race track proposed more than a decade ago that foundered.
“When the neighborhood is attacked, I feel personally attacked,” Clark said. “I feel it is my duty to hit back.
“I am not against development. We are very privileged to live here and I get that. We have a duty as residents of German Village and Schumacher Place to protect the historic character of these neighborhoods.”
Brenda Gischel, who leads the Schumacher Place Civic Association, said she still doesn’t see how the project can work.
“I think it’s important that we get a fair summation of the studies done,” Gischel said, referring to city of Columbus staff recommendations. “Something’s not kosher.”
Gischel said she’d like their movement expanded Columbus.
“I think that’s exactly why we formed Neighborhoods for Responsible Development,” she said, so those from other areas could also join. mferench@dispatch.com @Markferenchik to see across