MOUNT VERNON—Mount Vernon City Council members gave legislation transferring two parcels of land to the Knox County Land Bank a second reading on Monday.
The parcels comprise a parking lot on South Gay Street across from 18 E. Vine St. and are valued on the auditor’s website at $116,000.
The Mount Vernon Parking Company (MVPC) manages the lot.
The city bought the parcels for $1 each in 1970, which equates to $8.11 in today’s dollars. The land bank will buy the lots for $8.50 per parcel.
previous reporting
Safety-service Director Tanner Salyers said MVPC President Phil Herald contacted the city in December.
According to Salyers, Herald said that from MVPC’s perspective, there is no point for the parking company or the city to maintain the lot.
He suggested turning it over to the land bank.
Salyers told Knox Pages that the transfer agreement is essentially an “in-kind agreement that benefits the downtown.”
“If they intended to develop it, we would sell it for $116,000,” Salyers said. “It is a parking lot turning into a parking lot.
“Further, it reduces the city’s responsibility to maintain a lot that is not being maintained by the parking company, and it’s opening up additional public parking for a building that the land bank is spending millions of dollars investing in.”
The parking lot features 43 spots.
Herald previously told Knox Pages that since the Mount Vernon News vacated 18 E. Vine St., the parking company has only rented 10 spots.
On Monday, Land Bank Vice President Sam Filkins said the MVPC had not billed the tenants for the parking spots.
Boosting downtown public parking
18 E. Vine St. will house several occupants in addition to a food court open to the public.
previous reporting
“So we would go from a parking lot next to what will soon be a food court-plus for the public, go from a reservation-only lot to public parking, and go from a lot that the city has to maintain now vs. private maintenance,” Salyers said.
The city subsidizes the lot through the parking company with bed tax revenue.
“We are not requesting the bed tax to be used to maintain that lot,” Filkins said. “We will need to create an HOA (homeowners association) for that building, which will include the maintenance of that parking lot in those fees.”
The land bank will handle initial repairs.
“We’re creating more public parking, reducing the bed tax burden on the city, and bringing a lot of vibrancy to the downtown,” Filkins said.
The plan is to reserve 10 to 15 parking spots for the staff of 18 E. Vine occupants during the day. The land bank will offer the 10 currently reserved spots to those businesses as paid parking, and the remaining spots will be public parking.
“So we are looking to add at least 20 spots of public parking in downtown,” Filkins said.
He added that although the parking lot directly serves the land bank’s needs at 18 E. Vine, “We are not going to take attendance.”
“So if you want to park there and go downtown shopping, that’s fine, too,” he said.
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University and COTC parking lots switch to public parking after 5 p.m. With the addition of the land bank’s lot, most public downtown parking will be along Gay Street.
Emergency clause
Councilwoman LeNan Hager asked why the legislation included the emergency clause.
Mayor Matt Starr responded that it allows the legislation to go into effect immediately rather than waiting 30 days.
“Declaring an emergency … means that as soon as council does its readings and passes it with a two-thirds majority, it goes into effect as soon as the mayor signs it,” Salyers said.
“People want government to operate like a business; this makes it operate more smoothly instead of arbitrarily waiting 30 days.”
Councilman Mel Severns, chair of the Streets and Public Buildings Committee, noted council will give the legislation three readings.
“When that happens, basically the public has six weeks to comment from when it starts to when we pass it. So there is a time when they can speak,” he said.
Land use
Jeff Gottke of the Area Development Foundation reviewed the highlights of Together Knox, the update to the county’s comprehensive plan.
Councilman Jay Mahan said he appreciates the city partnering with the county on the plan.
In its legislative session, council gave a first reading to legislation adopting the plan.
Related to land use, council members gave a second reading to an ordinance rezoning two parcels on South Main Street from R1A to R3.
Council members will hold a hearing on the rezoning at their April 28 meeting.
In other legislative action, council members:
•Suspended the three readings and adopted legislation to apply for a SAFER grant, which renews funding for three firefighters ($300,000). The grant application period is not yet open, but the documents are prepared and ready to submit once it opens.
•Authorized the police department to dispose of six vehicles in the impound lot, ranging in age from years 1999 to 2012. Proceeds will be returned to the police fund rather than the general fund.
•Approved legislation to purchase 1,500 tons of road salt through the site’s co-op purchase program. The city used 1,300 tons last year and has 400 tons left.
•Approved supplemental appropriations, including $94,437 from the Ohio Department of Transportation in reimbursement for property acquisition on Ohio 13
•Gave the first read to an ordinance fixing the number of hourly employees in the police department
•Heard thoughts from resident Andrew Pike about vacating the Plaza Building at 5 N. Gay St.
•Waived the third reading and approved applying for a USDA grant for the new police station
