ONTARIO — The City of Ontario has characterized itself as a retail destination for Richland County and surrounding areas.
With new hotel and housing developments coming to the city’s north side, Ontario is preparing for coordinated growth to better connect the city to regional destinations and the local college campuses.
At the June 21 City Council meeting, the economic development committee discussed three different proposals submitted by consultants Kleinfelder Inc., Envision Group LLC and Reveille.
Kleinfelder has six offices in Ohio, the closest being in Hilliard. Envision is based in Cleveland and Reveille is based in Bowling Green.
The economic development committee discussed the comprehensive plan in February before developers submitted proposals, and interviewed the developers in May.
The committee discussed three different proposals for a 20-year comprehensive plan to help the city’s growth and strategic goals.
Each of the proposals discussed strategies for comprehensive planning including housing studies, transportation and land use, and stakeholder meetings with the community.
Mayor Randy Hutchinson said he wasn’t aware of the city having its own strategic plan before, though the city has worked closely with Richland County on transportation and land use plans.
Paul Tecpanecatl, a Bowling Green-based project manager for Kleinfelder, said he has worked with the Village of Lexington on comprehensive planning under Poggemeyer Design Group before it was acquired by Kleinfelder.
“Decades, ago, the City of Ontario’s city hall was designed by one of our architects,” Tecpanecatl said. “Hopefully we can work with the City of Ontario and its residents.
“I think taking a look at Richland Mall is going to be important, because that area probably needs some reinvestment.”
Economic development committee members discussed each consultant’s strengths and resources, with Councilman At-large Dave Rehfeldt noting Kleinfelder had the most resources as the largest company of the three.
“To me, it was like a lot of resources versus an aggressive guy,” Rehfeldt said. “Considering all the things we need in this town with our upcoming developments in the next three to five years, I like how Reveille was focused on infrastructure.”
Hutchinson said Envision and Reveille each said they would survey students about what they want to see in their town.
“That’s huge because they have a different vision and they’re the future,” he said.
Glenn Grisdale, Reveille president, said in a phone interview that his company has worked with a number of cities and areas similar to Ontario that are close to larger cities with industrial pasts.
“Some communities are just glad they’re not the community next to them, but haven’t looked into their own values,” Grisdale said. “So it’s valuable when cities like Ontario are willing to take the next step.”
Grisdale said Reveille partners saw opportunities to connect Ontario to bike trails and parks to provide more pedestrian access to the city.
“We try to help the community develop a vision,” he said. “People want to be inspired by the places they live in, and we want to help implement that.”
Over the course of the collaboration, the chosen consultant will work closely with the Ontario Planning Commission, Council Economic Development Committee and a Steering Committee that will be established to inform the project.
Hutchinson said City Council will decide which company to contract and plans will be developed through next year.
“No matter who we choose, there will be a steering committee of citizens to help us work on what they want to see,” the mayor said.
Resident concerns about construction
City Council members also heard from a few residents during public commentary. Marc and Robin Vanerio said construction for Menards self-storage units was blowing dust and debris into their yard and their neighbors’ yards.
Ontario City Council granted a conditional use request for storage units last May, according to meeting minutes.
Robin Vanerio said on Wednesday the tree line that property owners are planting doesn’t shield the top of the buildings when standing in her yard. She said local Environmental Protection Agency representatives have been on their property after they called for dust control and health concerns.
“We’ve had aluminum roofing fly into our yard and it would have killed somebody had we been out there,” she said. “We have so much garbage now — it’s unbelievable.”
Hutchinson said he will visit the property with the city zoning inspector and engineer after hearing the residents’ concerns. Council President Eddie Gallo asked the Vanerios to send him a list of how the construction has disrupted them and said he will schedule a meeting with a Menards representative.
“If they’re not complying with what the original intent was, we need to hold them accountable,” Gallo said. “I can’t promise you that anything is going to get fixed, but what I can promise you is that I will follow through and hold them accountable to whatever degree that we can.”
Janine Caico said she would like to see more American flags and banners for holidays celebrating veterans around town. While Gallo said most flagpoles in the city are privately owned, he agreed with Caico and said the city wants to celebrate veterans’ service.
Caico also said she was concerned about the lack of progress cleaning up the former Wilson’s garage site on Park Avenue West.
“Wilson’s garage looks like a junkyard and it’s looked that way for months,” Caico said. “They came and tore up some blacktop and left half of it.”
Hutchinson said the property owners are testing for contaminants using a Bureau of Underground Storage Tank Regulations grant and aren’t allowed to disturb the ground until that is done, though they would be able to move machinery or dumpsters off the property in the meantime.
“They thought it was going to be a clean site and get everything out of there quickly,” the mayor said. “But when the testing period is done, they will come in and completely clear everything out and level everything off.”
Also in the June 21 meeting:
–City Council passed an ordinance that changes the job descriptions for streets department head and parks foreman making it easier to cross-train employees and assign them different tasks for different seasonal requirements.
–City Council announced a public hearing for an ordinance proposing to amend off-street parking requirements to add specifications for motor vehicle sales. The public hearing will be Aug. 2 at the 7 p.m. regular meeting.
–Economic development committee chair Josh Bradley said he will draft legislation for a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) tax incentive agreement with Moment Development.
–Hutchinson said council will draft legislation for a tax increment financing (TIF) agreement for the car wash to be built on Walker Lake Road. This agreement will help recuperate some of the costs of the Spring Village sewer line replacement, which is estimated to cost at least $800,000. Hutchinson said this line replacement is integral to any developments north of U.S. 30 in the city.
–First Ward Councilman Nathan Sunderland said he was concerned with the number of speeding vehicles he sees around Victoria Court and Spring Village Drive, suggesting local police write more tickets to enforce the 25 mph speed limit.
–Hutchinson said the city is hiring workers for the service department, who will need to pass a laborers exam in July.
