CENTERBURG – The word Tom Stewart used was “concern.”
“I’m concerned because it’s going to happen,” the councilman said. “And we can’t stop it, but we can certainly control it a little bit.”
Stewart’s worries were about Centerburg’s future during the village council meeting on Monday night. He spoke of the multi-billion dollar amusement park being built in Delaware County, expected to be 40 percent complete by 2019, and how it will accelerate the growth of an already bustling area.
The new amusement park will be located just over 20 minutes away from Centerburg and will feature “at least 15 hotels,” covering 350 acres.
Stewart is concerned that the new amusement park will bring developers to Centerburg who will be eager to exploit its affordability and convenient location.
“They’re going to have 15,000 to 25,000 employees at this recreation park. We need to be prepared for a lot of people trying to get into the area,” Stewart said. “When developers go to an area, they find the place that has the fewest rules and the fewest roadblocks to them building things and getting it done quickly. So I think we need to be concerned for these things coming in, because we’re going to be right in the middle of it.”
Stewart suggested that Centerburg form its own building department, which would inspect businesses and enforce regulations within the village. He said that it could potentially be funded by money from building permits and that the village could negotiate to use rooms in the old high school for offices.
“There’s a lot of things we need to be looking at right now, to protect ourselves and our residents that we have now from what’s going to hit us here in about a year or less,” Stewart said.
Mayor Dave Beck said that the village would first need to talk with Hilliar Township about updating their joint comprehensive plan, which Centerburg entered into several years ago. Beck wanted to see if the township would consider rewriting the plan to include these potential changes before moving forward.
“I don’t think we should find out if they want to get involved,” Stewart said. “I think we should make them get involved.”
Stewart warned against waiting too long to take action, saying that Centerburg should start spending more time and money on “planning for what’s going to happen to this village.”
“I watched Orange Township go from 3,000 people, and in 11 years there were 26,000 people there,” he said. “And it could be a similar situation here.”
While council discussed the possibility of the county getting involved to assist in the planning process, councilman John Jackson claimed that the county would not likely help in this situation.
“The county thinks that they’re almost afraid to do something. They kind of want us to get something started to set the trend for the whole county,” Jackson said. “Development’s going to start here first before it heads on north and east.”
Stewart said that he would talk with government officials in Powell (Delaware County) about how they operate their building department. He also said that the village should talk with Milford Township, Hilliar Township and South Bloomfield Township about potential changes coming rapidly to the area.
“A developer is going to look for a better, cheaper place to do it, and we’re that better, cheaper place right now,” Stewart said. “So we need to be prepared for that.”
Developing downtown
Midway through Monday’s council meeting, councilwoman Saundra Dove drove home the concept of preparing Centerburg for the future.
She explained the Downtown Revitalization Committee’s vision for downtown Centerburg, which includes luring visitors up from its 16-mile Heart of Ohio bike trail and into the downtown corridor.
But she also noted that there have been considerable roadblocks over the past year and a half which have kept this vision from turning into action.
According to Dove, the committee has tried to hire unpaid interns to write the grants required to put this plan in motion. They interviewed two post-graduate students from Ohio State University and both turned them down – one after choosing to pursue a paid internship working for the city of Hilliard.
“We really can’t go any further without having some individual that has the expertise, that can go and write the grants,” Dove said.
Dove sought approval from council to fund hiring a paid intern, which would generally pay $13 to $18.50 per hour depending on the project.
“That’s the only way you’re going to be able to get an intern that’s going to drive all the way up from Columbus to the village. You’re looking for someone who would work maybe 15-20 hours per week,” Dove said.
“So that’s where we are. We need to have some money, and there are grants out there, we’ve been told, that they can actually apply for that would reimburse to pay the salaries of the internship there.”
Dove cited the opening of Licking County’s new wetland, trail and park, as well as Delaware’s future amusement park as reasons why there could be more people passing through Centerburg in the coming years.
If the village were to start working on revitalizing downtown now, local businesses would be more likely to profit off of the increased traffic, Dove said.
“We have an opportunity to bring more people to stop and spend their money here with our businesses,” Dove said. “So we need help, we need to have a paid intern. We need the approval of council.”
Beck said that the village would likely need $3,000 to $5,000 to fund the intern’s pension. Clerk Teri James said that the funds would come from the village’s general fund, although council would need to discuss where within the fund it would come from.
Village administrator Joe Hardin recommended that the committee also look at outside sources, such as Poggemeyer Design Group, to potentially provide interns which could assist with grants.
The committee’s vision for downtown Centerburg includes planting trees along the main street, as well as cleaning up the sidewalk and putting benches and bike racks along the way.
There is also potential for a shelter at the intersection of Clayton Street and Preston Street that would have restrooms, bike racks and picnic tables, as well as a kiosk that would show trail visitors a map of Centerburg’s downtown businesses.
Dove said the committee is thinking about making it look “like an old train station,” a tribute to the hub that was a staple of the village long ago.
“These are some of the things we’re looking at,” Beck added. “And in order for us to go further than we are right now, we’re going to need to figure out some way to fund it.”
